Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, had the drug THC in his system the night of this death, according to new information obtained by ABC News.
The revelation came as prosecutors in the case prepared to release to the public hundreds of pages of new evidence along with videos and crime scene photos.
Martin’s death sparked public outrage after police released Martin’s shooter, George Zimmerman, without any criminal charges for the killing.
Zimmerman, 28, is a multi-racial Hispanic man who shot the black high school junior at close range on Feb. 26, and claimed self-defense, though Martin was unarmed. Zimmerman was later charged with second-degree murder, and the killing provoked widespread debate about racial profiling.
The autopsy report shows traces of the drug THC, which is found in marijuana, in Martin’s blood and urine.
The autopsy also shows that Zimmerman shot Martin from a distance of between 1 inch and 18 inches away, bolstering Zimmerman’s claim that he shot Martin during a struggle that landed Zimmerman on his back, Martin straddling him and banging Zimmerman’s head on the ground.
Martin’s autopsy report also revealed that there was a quarter-inch by half-inch abrasion on the left fourth finger of Martin, another indication of a possible struggle. The teen, who lived in Miami, was in Sanford while serving a suspension for a bag of marijuana being discovered in his possession.
Later today, a trove of documents that are part of the discovery in Zimmerman’s trial are expected to be released on a website run by the state’s attorney, including 67 CDs worth of documents, video of Martin on the night of the shooting, his autopsy report and videos of Zimmerman’s questioning by police.
{ABC News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
I am just wondering why this site feels the need to take a side on this case. How does this case affect our community? Why the bias? If anyone can explain this to me it would be greatly appreciated.
love the headline!
Last time I checked, there was no death penalty for smoking marijuana. And if you know about these things, you would know that THC lingers in the system for as long as a week. People who give pre-employment drug tests should know this.
LET’S LET THE JURY DECIDE.
So what? Marijuana use isn’t chayav misa! For that matter neither is punching some guy who is stalking you.
Was Trayvon a tzadik, no. Was he a thug, sounds like maybe he was.
Did Zimmerman escalate a situation that was probably benign until it ended with a young man dead. Yes.
This doesn’t justify killing the man!
“Did Zimmerman escalate a situation that was probably benign until it ended with a young man dead.” NO! He was saving his life
The point is not that he took marijuana (which as far as I am concerned, I think should be legal and very heavily taxed). That’s none of my business. Now, how he paid for his expensive “habit” having no (legal) income whatsoever, and what he was doing loitering in a residential neighbourhood, and why he confronted a community patrol (as opposed to stopping and politely explaining where he was going, as we all do when we are stopped) in fact attacking him physically, that IS my business and I want to know. Well, I actually already do – the USA are a lawless jungle, that’s why.
I HATE THE WAy Matzav throws in their 2 cents, other news sites are reporting that THC is inadmissible in court since it was such a low level that it could not have contributed in any way to his behavior.
The shooter is ‘not such a tzadik’ either, the whole thing was probably avoidable had he not provoked a confrontation.