Story highlights
- The photo shows Zimmerman apparently bleeding on the night of Martin's killing
- Prosecutors previously provided a black-and-white copy, Zimmerman's defense says
- Zimmerman claims he killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense
- Martin's defense team says he was killed "in cold blood"
A photo posted online Monday shows George Zimmerman with blood on his nose and lips. His attorneys say it was taken the night unarmed teen Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Florida.
Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. Martin's attorneys say he was shot and killed "in cold blood."
Prosecutors have charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder for the February 26 killing.
The picture, posted Monday on Zimmerman's defense website, was taken by a police officer, Zimmerman's attorneys wrote.
The state had previously provided a black-and-white copy of the image, the attorneys wrote on the website. "This high resolution digital file was finally provided to the defense on October 29."
Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – A photo posted online Monday, December 3, shows George Zimmerman with blood on his nose and lips. His attorneys say it was taken the night unarmed teen Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman, 28, faces second-degree murder charges in the death of Martin in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. Other evidence photos were released earlier this year:
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. Martin's attorneys say he was shot and killed "in cold blood."
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Zimmerman said that before he shot the teenager, he was "assaulted (by Martin) and his head was struck on the pavement," according to a police report.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – According to a fire department report, Zimmerman had "abrasions to his forehead," "bleeding/tenderness to his nose" and a "small laceration to the back of his head" when he was treated at the scene.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – In a photo released by the Sanford Police Department, Zimmerman's hands appear to be unmarked.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Prosecutors allege Zimmerman unjustly killed Martin, an unarmed teenager, after profiling him. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims self-defense.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Zimmerman's gun is displayed. The shooting raised questions about gun laws, as well as the merit of the "stand your ground" law in Florida and similar laws in other states.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Crime scene photos released by the Sanford Police Department show Trayvon Martin's cell phone at the scene of the shooting.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – Evidence marker 2 shows a plastic sack found at the crime scene.
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Photos: Photos: Trayvon Martin evidence
Trayvon Martin evidence – A can of Arizona iced tea was found on the ground at the Martin crime scene.
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Zimmerman's attorney speaks about case 01:46
Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – Memorials to Trayvon Martin grow daily outside The Retreat at Twin Lakes, the gated Sanford, Florida, community where neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman shot and killed the unarmed teen February 26. The death has sparked protests across the country and brought unwanted attention to Sanford, a town north of Orlando.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – Sanford's main roads are dotted with mini strip malls in between patches of what remains of central Florida's agricultural history. Views about the Martin case depend on which streets you stand on in Sanford.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – "I don't see Sanford as being a prejudiced town by any means," said Michelle Simoneaux, left, manager of downtown's Colonial Room Restaurant and Fountain. "This could happen anywhere, but it doesn't happen every day. "
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – A neighborhood watch sign marks the gated community where Martin died. Zimmerman has said he killed the teen in self-defense, police said.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – Members of the Goldsboro community play a game under an oak tree. Goldsboro was one of Florida's earliest towns incorporated by African-Americans before Sanford absorbed it and took over in 1911. Residents speak of frequent police patrols in the area and other cases similar to Martin's.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – A protest sign painted on the window of a car at a housing project calls for Zimmerman's arrest. For some, the Martin case has become a rallying cry, a chance to air what they believe are years of grievances.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – The Martin killing has been the subject of intense coverage in local newspapers as well as the national media.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – Longtime resident Myranette Boynton, 58, says she thinks the attention to Sanford will make a difference. "This occasion has happened too many times, and enough is enough," Boynton says from the banks of Lake Monroe. "Trayvon is not the only one, but Trayvon should be the last one."
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – A handwritten card lies among the memorial gifts outside the neighborhood where the high schooler died.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – A woman strolls through the downtown area. Many residents say they wonder whether Sanford will forever be known as the place where an unarmed black teen was killed while heading home from the store.
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Photos: Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing
Stigma for town in Trayvon Martin killing – Signs about the shooting have been posted throughout the Florida city, and the message is clear: People want answers.
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Zimmerman's mom: 'I believe in justice' 02:19
A police report from the night of the incident said Zimmerman was "bleeding from the nose and back of his head."
The 28-year-old volunteer neighborhood watchman was driving through his gated community when the incident occurred. Martin was walking through the neighborhood to his father's girlfriend's house.
Zimmerman has claimed that after the two exchanged words, Martin charged at him, knocked him to the ground and banged his head repeatedly against a concrete sidewalk.
Martin's family says Zimmerman attacked the teen, who had done nothing wrong.
Martin's death sparked nationwide protests and inflamed public passions over race relations and gun control, as well as Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows the use of deadly force when a person perceives a threat to safety.
In August, a new judge was named to oversee the case, after an appeals court agreed to a request from Zimmerman's defense team. The attorneys had argued the previous judge had made remarks putting Zimmerman in reasonable fear of an unfair trial.
