http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1206/26/ijvm.01.htmlJANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Husband of Murdered Woman Arrested for Hiring Hitman; John Edwards, Mistress Split Up
Aired June 26, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH MURDER: She said a few stitches.
Ended up on top of me. And he kept punching my face. My head. I was screaming for help.
Put his hand on his nose -- my nose and the other hand on my mouth and said, "Shut the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up."
SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: Our son was not committing any crimes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace!
ZIMMERMAN: My head was going to explode.
He said, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."
He says, "You`re going to die tonight. You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."
BENJAMIN CRUMP, LAWYER FOR TRAYVON`S PARENTS: His credibility is the most important thing in this entire case.
ZIMMERMAN: I didn`t think I hit him because he like sat up and was like, "Oh, you got me. You got it, you got me, you got it," something like that.
Want to just focus on my head?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: Tonight more new evidence pouring out of Florida. We finally learn why cops doubted George Zimmerman`s story.
Jane Velez-Mitchell back with you live.
What you`re going to see right now is a just-released video documenting Zimmerman`s injuries on February 27. That is the day after he shot and killed unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. These wounds are crucial because they help to prove or disprove Zimmerman`s claim that he acted in self-defense.
Also, for the first time, we are hearing George Zimmerman talking about his injuries in detail. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH MURDER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: I have a broken nose. She said I could use stitches, but she would rather not put them in as long as I didn`t mess with my head because the skin was already -- a mess (inaudible)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The mountain of new evidence released today includes the official police report where cops seem to blame Zimmerman saying this whole tragic event could have been avoided. It reads, quote, "Zimmerman had at least two opportunities to speak with Trayvon in order to diffuse the circumstances surrounding their encounter," end quote.
All right. That`s bad news for George Zimmerman.
On the positive side for Zimmerman, you might say, Zimmerman was given a lie detector test. Watch this key exchange between Zimmerman and the cops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the month of February?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you in fear for your life when you shot the guy?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, tests showed that the quote, "examinee has told substantially the complete truth". In other words, according to that report from cops, Zimmerman was truthful when he said that he was in fear for his life.
So who do you believe? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to Mark Eiglarsh, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor -- you`re in Miami. What does this new batch of evidence tell you, Mark?
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, nothing has changed since the last batch of evidence. What we`ve got is we`ve got injury to the back of his head. We`ve got a broken nose. Let`s start there because that doesn`t lie.
No matter how you feel about this, that doesn`t lie. It wasn`t self- inflicted. It was there when the cops got there. So he gives a version of events. This latest batch of evidence tells us that it wasn`t inconsistent with his story. In other words, they can`t say that he was lying.
They can`t necessarily prove what he`s saying is truthful, but the fact that they can`t negate what he`s saying means in a court of law, not necessarily the court of public opinion where everybody is right regardless of what they have say. In a court of law, that should equal an acquittal unless there`s more evidence to contradict his version of events.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we are also joined tonight by someone who I think will probably disagree with you. Daryl Parks, Trayvon Martin`s family attorney, thank you for joining us, sir. What does this new batch of evidence tell you?
DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: I have to respectfully disagree with the other gentleman. It`s rather clear to us that based on what the investigators talk about the next day. They said the alleged injuries that Mr. Zimmerman said were life threatening had cleared up. So the severity he claimed earlier just wasn`t there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, to that point, George Zimmerman refused to go to the hospital the night he shot Trayvon Martin dead. So who treated his injuries? Watch this. It`s fascinating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: He was just focused on my head. There`s a little bruising there. There`s one here. There`s a cut here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) I remember yesterday seeing swollen around right here and I don`t see it now.
ZIMMERMAN: My wife is an RN student so she went to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZIMMERMAN: Ok. So he`s saying his wife, Sherrie -- there you see her from her mug shot -- his wife, Sherrie, treated his wounds because she apparently had some training as a nurse.
I got to go back to Daryl Parks, Trayvon Martin`s family attorney. Is it suspicious to you that he allowed his wife to bandage all these wounds instead of going to a hospital where there would be records?
PARKS: Well, I think, we do know he did go to his family physician. However, I think the significant aspect of it is they were not severe. I mean, the records that came out today said that most of the things had cleared up. The wound on the back of his head did not need sutures.
So all of that`s very clear that the big fight, the life threatening fight that he alleges was not as severe as he would like for us to believe. So I think that given the low minimum magnitude of the injuries, it further brings into question George Zimmerman`s credibility of the alleged bad injuries that he once said.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you just raised a point. After Trayvon`s shooting, Zimmerman was grilled by Sanford police. And they questioned him darn hard about these injuries and the severity of these injuries. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as 25 or 30 punches, I`ve consulted with other people, not consistent with your injuries. This has been interpreted as capillary cuts, lacerations not really coinciding with being slammed hard into the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Rolonda watts, a police report released today states that Zimmerman`s physical injuries are marginally consistent with a life- threatening violent episode. What does that tell you?
ROLONDA WATTS, TELEVISION PERSONALITY: Well, it says to me that while people point and say well, there was fear and there was injury, we have to remember that it has to be about the level of fear and injury. And did that lead to the death, the murder, the killing -- whatever you call it -- of a child, basically, here.
The investigators have said both the fear and injuries were minimal. And also the credibility of that couple -- that couple has already been accused of lying on two different occasions. One with the bond, the wife was accused of lying. And then here we are with Zimmerman who came and admitted that he was guilty of misleading the court.
The bottom line is, is Zimmerman`s story credible? Does the jury really believe that he had enough of a reason to kill that little boy and hunt him down like an animal, which it appears he did.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Zimmerman, by the way is going to be in court on Friday. He`s already apologized for essentially lying to the judge about not having any money when he did. We`re going to be all over this Friday.
But now let`s go out to the phone lines. Darlene, Michigan, your question or thought, Darlene.
DARLENE, MICHIGAN (via telephone): Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
DARLENE: First of all, I want to congratulate you, lady, on your sobriety and your recovery. You`re beautiful. I love you dearly. I watch every night.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
DARLENE: Yes, ma`am. I wanted to get into the Zimmerman thing. You know, he`s the son of a judge. And like the guy -- I can`t remember his name that killed that one girl, he had a father that was a judge and he`s now in Peruvian jail or whatever.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joran Van Der Sloot, yes. Your point though.
Caller: Ok, yes. My point is, Jane, they said that his injuries were reported basically the next day. A couple of callers previous or whoever it was said they didn`t think the injuries were bad enough. Well, he`s indicated that his nose was broken. How much more damaging could it be that he shouldn`t have gone to the hospital, you know what I`m saying?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let me say, Daryl Parks, give us your final word on these injuries.
PARKS: I think it`s rather clear that although there was an altercation, there`s no way that he could claim from these injuries that he feared for his life. And now that we are clearly seeing what the injuries are the night of from the video. And now we have the indication from the law enforcement what they saw and how they viewed the injuries.
So it`s not -- you know, it`s certainly looking that he`s going to be held responsible for Trayvon`s death.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the only advantage I think he has here is that he`s the one essentially kind of controlling the video portion of this because he`s the only one on videotape. Unfortunately, the other person on the other side of this confrontation is deceased.
Thank you so much, Daryl Parks and the rest of my panel.
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