On Friday representatives of the State Attorney’s Office said six jail phone calls made by Zimmerman will be released Monday morning. Other evidence, they said, will be made available as it is ready.
Initially the State Attorney’s Office had planned to release 151 jail phone calls made by Zimmerman, however Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara filed a motion Friday afternoon objecting to the release of the calls.
Other new evidence will be released within 15 days as part of an order Judge Kenneth Lester issued Wednesday. After a review, Lester ordered most of the evidence available at this point to be released with the exception of some witnesses’ names, crime scene photos of Trayvon Martin and certain cell phone records.
Included in that release will be statements Zimmerman made to police following the incident with Martin, who Zimmerman claims he shot in self-defense.
Zimmerman is charged with the second-degree murder of 17-year-old Martin, a crime he has now been sent to jail twice for after having his bond revoked on June 1.
Despite the defense’s efforts to have those statements sealed, Lester said Zimmerman’s discussions with police do not qualify as a confession, and therefore cannot be sealed.
Lester wrote, “…they do not qualify as a confession, as the Defendant does not acknowledge guilt of the essential elements of the crime. The only element conceded by the Defendant is that he shot and killed the victim, but he does not concede any other elements of second-degree murder.”
In addition to statements made by Zimmerman the public will also be privy to any tests performed on Zimmerman, as well as recorded conversations between Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie Zimmerman, made from the Seminole County jail.
Those phone calls were detailed in a warrant for Shellie Zimmerman’s arrest released Tuesday where State Attorney Angela Corey charged her with perjury for false statements about her financial standing during Zimmerman’s bond hearing.
Shellie Zimmerman spent a short period in the Seminole County jail Tuesday, but has since posted her $1,000 bond.
Special Prosecutor Angela Corey also released a list Friday detailing what is included in the second round of evidence delivered to the defense team Thursday.
The list mostly details witnesses – with the exception of 21 names that are sealed – including members of law enforcement and people Zimmerman may have come into contact with in the past.
Interestingly, the president of Shoot Straight, a chain of gun ranges, is listed as well as several of his employees. Employees of Gander Mountain, a private investigator, and several firearm trainers and dealers are also listed.
Cell phone records for Martin’s father Tracy Martin are also be part of the discovery, and emails between Zimmerman and former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr., who stepped down temporarily following media focus on the case.
O’Mara said the evidence he received Thursday included seven CDs and hundreds of pages of documents. Among those items are surveillance video, police radio transmissions, crime scene photos, a crime diagram and additional reports from the Sanford Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
The defense team will have 30 days to review the evidence before it is made public.