Evidence photo taken of George Zimmerman's injuries after the shooting of Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26.
Zimmerman is currently out on bond after being charged April 11 with second-degree murder for the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Echoing a concern both parties had in the past, each has requested any identifying information for witnesses be sealed.
Although a large amount of evidence was released last Thursday, any statements from Zimmerman to police have yet to be seen. Since the release of the evidence Special Prosecutor Angela Corey has said those statements from Zimmerman may show why the prosecution chose to charge him with second-degree murder. She requested the statements be sealed from public record.
In her most recent motion she wrote, “Defendant has provided law enforcement with numerous statements, some of which are contradictory, and are inconsistent with the physical evidence and statements of witnesses.”
Corey also requested all crime scene, autopsy and other photos showing Martin’s body be kept sealed. Additionally, she asked that the 911 call recording the shooting be sealed.
Along with those, Corey is asking for Martin’s phone records, as well as his girlfriend’s phone records to stay out of the public. Martin’s parents attorney Benjamin Crump stated Martin’s girlfriend was on the phone with him only moments before the shooting occurred.
Releasing those records, Corey stated, would identify the girlfriend, her parents and other innocent people whose numbers are listed.
O’Mara, who has not seen all of the evidence in the case yet, also requested that certain discovery – like the more than 1,000 emails sent to the Sanford Police Department in the weeks following the shooting – be sealed.
He stated, “Certain discovery, though completely irrelevant, may tend to inflame the passions of those in favor of one position or the other in the matter.”
O’Mara, like Corey, has also asked that statements made by Zimmerman to police be sealed.
He wrote, “The release of that information would be highly prejudicial to Mr. Zimmerman’s case, and again, would adversely affect the proper administration of justice.”
Lastly, O’Mara asked that text messages, emails, journal entries and other similar information collected by the state be withheld from the public until further review.
Although the case is in the early stages, media attention to the shooting and subsequent arrest of Zimmerman has dominanted national headlines for three months. Releasing these key pieces of evidence, prosecutors and the defense said, would affect the ability to chose a jury for the case.
Judge Kenneth Lester will hear the motions during a hearing on Friday, June 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Evidence in the case will continue to be made public and just this week a recording of Zimmerman at a commission meeting in January 2011 showed him speaking out against the Sanford Police Department.
Zimmerman was attending the meeting to speak about the response from the department in a December 2010 case where a lietenant’s son punched a homeless man in downtown Sanford.
The incident, which was caught on tape, did not result in an arrest until the State Attorney’s Office took over the case. Zimmerman expressed his concern over the case and the fact that former police chief Brian Tooley was still receiving a pension.
"The law is written in black and white," Zimmerman said. "It should not and cannot be enforced in the gray for those that are in the thin blue line."
He ended his statement by telling the Mayor Jeff Triplett not to underestimate the residents of Sanford.
He said, “Please do not underestimate the most important endorsement that of the residents and constituents of Sanford."