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Why Trayvon Martin's Bullet Wound Might Keep George Zimmerman Out of Jail

Why Trayvon Martin's Bullet Wound Might Keep George Zimmerman Out of Jail

Bullet was fired at "intermediate range," exactly as Zimmerman said.

The Trayvon Martin case has been out of the news for a good amount of time.

That doesn't mean it's gone. In fact, one of the more crucial phases of the controversial trial of George Zimmerman is currently underway: a phase known as "discovery," in which evidence is shared between attorneys, including physical evidence, relevant paperwork, witness lists, etc.

(Related: See new photos of a bloodied George Zimmerman)

And so far, the discovery process has seemed to favor Zimmerman's side of the story almost entirely. Yesterday, the Blaze's Madeleine Morgenstern reported that the injuries suffered by Trayvon Martin, when compared with the injuries suffered by George Zimmerman, could corroborate Zimmerman's account that Martin was the aggressor in the case.

Today, evidence has been released surrounding the bullet wound Martin suffered, which experts are saying was fired at "intermediate range" - IE, from anywhere between 1-18 inches away:

The autopsy, conducted by the medical examiner in Volusia County, Fla., also showed that 17-year-old Martin had one small abrasion on his left ring finger below the knuckle, according to the news report. The report could back the account of George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain accused of killing Martin, who has said he fired into Martin's chest in self-defense as the youth was straddling and pummeling him.

The autopsy report was reviewed by NBC News, but not made available to the public. A spokesman for Volusia County, Fla., told Fox News the report was not made public and was leaked by someone other than the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office. He noted attorneys for both Zimmerman and Martin had copies of it. He said the report will not be released while an active investigation of the Feb. 26 shooting remains underway.

Dr. Michael Baden, the former New York City medical examiner, said "intermediate" in such cases is defined as the muzzle of the gun being one to 18 inches away from the entry point when fired.

Why is this so significant? Because Zimmerman claims he shot Martin at close range, in self-defense against physical attacks from the teen. Now the autopsy is suggesting the shot was indeed made at close range, and given the asymmetry of injuries suffered by Martin vs Zimmerman, this further backs up Zimmerman's blow by blow account of the incident. Is it still possible that Zimmerman shot too quickly, or not out of fear for his life? Yes. However, this evidence certainly makes that look less likely.

Watch Fox News' Megyn Kelly's report on the new developments in the case below:

 

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that evidence of marijuana was found in Trayvon Martin's urine and blood. Depending on whether the weed was consumed close to Martin's death, this may lend further credence to Zimmerman's claim that Martin was "acting suspiciously" (smelling of weed will tend to make a person seem suspicious). There is also further evidence that Martin may have been the aggressor:

New witness accounts also emerged Thursday. A witness, whose name is redacted, told investigators he saw “a black male, wearing a dark colored hoodie,” on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help.

The witness, who was looking out the sliding glass door at his home about 30 feet away, said he saw the black male throwing punches “MMA (mixed martial arts) style.”

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