By MIKE SCHNEIDER and CURT ANDERSON
FILE – In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, file photo, George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. Zimmerman is asking a judge to change the terms of his bond so he can have contact with his girlfriend. Zimmerman on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, filed an affidavit from his girlfriend that says she doesn’t want him charged with aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors are considering whether to move forward with domestic violence charges against George Zimmerman even though his girlfriend is asking them not to do so.
Without a witness willing to testify, prosecutors can still use law enforcement reports, 911 calls and other witnesses to build a case. But such cases are more difficult to prove, State Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Lynne Bumpus Hooper said.
Zimmerman filed an affidavit from his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, saying she doesn’t want him charged with aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. The affidavit was filed with a motion Monday asking a judge to change the terms of his bond so he can have contact with Scheibe.
Zimmerman was arrested last month after Scheibe accused him in a 911 call of pointing a gun at her, smashing a coffee table and pushing her outside. Zimmerman also called dispatchers, denied pointing a gun at her and blamed her for the broken table.
In the signed affidavit, Scheibe — referring to Zimmerman as “my boyfriend” — said detectives misinterpreted what she said and that she hadn’t been coerced into signing the document.
“I am not afraid of George in any manner and I want to be with him,” Scheibe wrote.
It’s not uncommon in domestic violence cases for the alleged victims to change their minds about pursuing charges, said Blaine McChesney, a former prosecutor in Orlando who now is a defense attorney.
“In the heat of the moment, they’re angry about what has happened. Later, upon reflection, they’re not as angry. They’re not as upset,” McChesney said Tuesday. “The feelings of love and compassion overcome any feelings the victim had.”
Although prosecutors can move ahead without the cooperation of the victim, it makes it difficult to convict if there is no physical evidence of injuries, he said.
“Juries really want to see the alleged victim on the stand talking about the case,” McChesney said. “It’s very hard to convict in a case when the victim isn’t there.”
However, in Zimmerman’s case, Scheibe provided a real-time account of what was happening on a 911 call.
“You point your gun at my fricking face,” Samantha Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman on the 911 call. “Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house.”
Seconds later, she told the dispatcher, “You kidding me? He pushed me out of my house and locked me out. … He knows how to do this. He knows how to play this game.”
Zimmerman’s Miami-based defense lawyer, Jayne Weintraub, said in a phone interview that her motion focuses on getting rid of the no-contact order between Zimmerman and Scheibe but that she wants the State Attorney’s Office to reconsider the entire case in light of Scheibe’s statement.
“I’m hoping that the prosecutors will take a good hard look at this and take the target off of George’s back and drop the charges,” Weintraub said.
She said a hearing will be scheduled in the near future to discuss the motion and affidavit.
Zimmerman was acquitted of any crime last summer in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a case that sparked a nationwide debate about race and self-defense laws. Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, was accused of racially profiling the black teen, but said he shot Martin to protect himself.
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Anderson reported from Miami.
