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In one of the audio recordings, Sereno tells Zimmerman three days after the shooting that Martin was a "good kid, mild-mannered kid." Sereno tells Zimmerman that Martin, an athlete with an interest in aeronautics, was "a kid with a future, a kid with folks that care." The detective said Martin only had a bag of Skittles and an iced tea on him when he died. "Not a goon," Sereno said. He asked Zimmerman to explain why he doesn't have bruises on his body or broken ribs. The two dozen punches Zimmerman claims he took are "not quite consistent with your injuries," Sereno said. Benjamin Crump, the attorney for Martin's parents, couldn't immediately be reached for comment Thursday. But appearing on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight," Crump said Zimmerman's credibility is the issue. "Everybody's going to have to look at this for what it is," Crump said. "You've got objective evidence, and then you've got George Zimmerman's versions. You put them up against one another and we know that written statement that he did that night doesn't match up to that 911 tape. "And there are other inconsistencies, and when we see the lie, we've got to call it out and say, there's his credibility again, and that's the important thing." Zimmerman called police after spotting Martin walking around the neighborhood and the dispatcher told him not to follow the teen. For reasons that are still unclear, Zimmerman kept up his pursuit, even getting out of his truck. He lost sight of Martin and was walking back to his truck when Martin confronted him, Zimmerman said. "Do you have a problem?" Zimmerman said, quoting Martin.
If Zimmerman's account is accurate, he has a viable "stand your ground" defense, McChesney said. Zimmerman's attorney has the option of asking for a "stand your ground" hearing in which he will present Zimmerman's account to a judge and ask that the charge be dismissed without going to trial. Zimmerman's second bond hearing will be June 29. His $150,000 bond was revoked earlier this month after prosecutors said Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, misled the court about how much money they had available for bail. Shellie Zimmerman was charged last week with making a false statement. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara said his client will be shown to have told the truth about the incident, even though the statement regarding the Zimmermans' finances was shown to be false. "The attacks on Mr. Zimmerman's credibilities are going to pale in comparison to the undeniable, objective evidence," he said.
[Associated
Press;
Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro, Kelli Kennedy, Laura Wides in Miami, Greg Schreier and Bernard McGhee in Atlanta and Brent Kallestad in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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