George Zimmerman TV interview gives prosecutors more ammo

A day after George Zimmerman talked about the death of Trayvon Martin on television, prosecutors said they would use the interview as evidence in the second-degree murder case.

The move did not surprise Central Florida defense attorneys, who said Zimmerman did himself no favors by agreeing to an hourlong interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday night.

“I think George Zimmerman needs to stop talking,” said David Faulkner, a former FBI agent and Winter Park defense attorney. “I don’t think the interview changes anyone’s mind. It just adds more statements that they’re going to have to defend at trial.”

So why did he take the risk of going on national TV to tell his story? Money, his attorney said.

“The defense fund is virtually out of money and they can’t provide shelter, security, anything pretty soon if the spending continues as it is and the donations continue as they are,” O’Mara told the Sentinel. He described Hannity as his client’s “earliest supporter … a voice of reason saying let’s not rush to judgment.”

Zimmerman, O’Mara said, promised Hannity in April that he would get the Neighborhood Watch captain’s first interview. O’Mara said the defense fund is down to about $30,000 to $50,000, “but there are outstanding bills that would pretty much devastate that.”

The legal team has not been paid, he said, and the Hannity interview resulted in only a modest uptick in support.

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Zimmerman told Hannity he walked toward Trayvon because he needed to find a street address for police, but he told Sanford police it was because he had forgotten the street’s name, something detectives challenged him on.

Also, Zimmerman said on the night of the shooting that, while he was reporting the teen to police, Trayvon ran away. But he told Hannity “he was more … skipping, going away quickly. But he wasn’t running out of fear.”

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The decision by Zimmerman’s defense to allow an interview came as a surprise to many in the legal community.

Lyle Mazin, an Orlando defense lawyer, said a defendant has “unequivocal advantages” over the state: the right to remain silent and to have an attorney to speak for him. The Hannity interview, Mazin said, was “a fundamental failure of both of them.”

“The more times a person tells a story, even if telling the absolute truth, the more [inconsistencies] will emerge,” said Mazin, who has been critical of the state’s case. “It’s the human condition of storytelling.”

Maybe they are going for legal incompetence. This is just weird.