The neighbourhood watch captain who killed the unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin suffered a broken nose while fighting for his life, his lawyer has claimed.
The neighbourhood watch captain who killed the unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin suffered a broken nose while fighting for his life, his lawyer has claimed.
As protests continue to grow following the failure of police in Florida to arrest George Zimmerman over the death of the 17-year-old last month, his friends and legal team began a media fightback.
They insisted that Zimmerman, 28, was in a "life or death struggle" when he shot Trayvon in a gated community in the town of Sanford, near Orlando, after reporting the presence of a suspicious black male to police.
The case has provoked outrage across America amid claims that Zimmerman, who is half white and half Peruvian, was not prosecuted because police did not take the death of a black boy seriously. Officers argue that Zimmerman is protected by the controversial Florida self-defence law Stand Your Ground, which allows people to attack if they believe their life is at risk.
In response to the outcry, prosecutors are now reviewing the police decision, and are due to meet Trayvon's parents.
Zimmerman's associates, including a close friend who is black, have made a series of television appearances arguing that he is not a racist, and was genuinely in fear for his life.
The friend, Joe Oliver, told The Today Show: "The bottom line is there was a life-and-death struggle in that instance and someone was going to die."
Zimmerman's lawyer, Craig Sonner, claimed that the neighbourhood watch chief was himself injured during his confrontation with Trayvon.
He added: "It's not a racial issue. George Zimmerman is absolutely not a racist.
"George Zimmerman suffered a broken nose, and had an injury to the back of his head - he was attacked by Trayvon Martin on that evening.
"The evidence will show that this was a case of self-defence."
A new witness has come forward to say that she and her room-mate heard Trayvon screaming before a shot rang out.
Mary Cutcher, who lives in the gated community, told NBC that she ran outside to find Zimmerman with his hands pressed into Trayvon's back, adding that he "never turned him over or tried to help him".
Last week it emerged that police had failed to speak to Trayvon's girlfriend, to whom the teenager was on the phone in the minutes leading up to his death.
The 16-year-old, who has not been named, claimed he said he was being followed and was frightened before she heard what she thought was the sound of him being pushed to the ground.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}