Shellie Zimmerman claims her estranged husband, George Zimmerman, broke into pieces an iPad she used to record video of their confrontation Monday afternoon, Officer Zach Hudson of the Lake Mary (Fla.) Police Department told The Huffington Post.
“That iPad is in half a dozen pieces at this point,” Hudson said. The remains of the device have been sent to a lab where technicians will attempt to extract the video Shellie Zimmerman recorded and any other potential evidence that might be stored on it.
Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell told HuffPost on Monday that, as of then, the authorities did not have enough evidence to charge George Zimmerman with a crime. The iPad could potentially change that equation.
One particular question that might be answered if video can be pulled from the damaged device is whether George Zimmerman was carrying a weapon during the confrontation. Last night, on CNN’s "AC360," George Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, told Anderson Cooper that Zimmerman was carrying his weapon at the time.
O’MARA: He acted appropriately. He never took the weapon out. The only thing he really did, which is what he told the police, was on the outside of his shirt, he made sure the gun wasn’t moving anywhere and didn’t do anything because Mr. Dean [Zimmerman's father-in-law] was sort of coming at him, that can sort of be seen in the video.
COOPER: So he had the gun actually on his person, not like in the glove box of his car?
O’MARA: That’s correct
Officer Hudson told HuffPost that he was aware of O’Mara’s statements, but noted, “What I can say beyond a shadow of doubt is that officers did not take possession of or see a gun on scene.” Hudson added, "Shellie assumed he had a gun on his person," because George Zimmerman placed his hand over the part of his body where she had previously seen him carry a weapon.
Shellie Zimmerman also claimed that George Zimmerman battered her father, reportedly punching him in the face. But Hudson indicated that he observed no bruises on David Dean.
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