Gary W. Green / Pool / EPA
The parents of Trayvon Martin, Tracy Martin, left, and Sybrina Fulton, second from left, meet with prosecutor Angela Corey as they arrive with their attorney Benjamin Crump, right, at the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla., on April 20. Tracy Martin and Fulton are among the witnesses whose names were made public in a court filing by Corey on Monday.
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com
Court paperwork filed late Monday offered a window into evidence in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch captain facing second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The documents filed with the Seminole County Court by Special Prosecutor Angela Corey listed witnesses the state will call for questioning, as well as other evidence to be presented, including video from the night of the shooting, crime scene photographs and 56 audio-recorded statements, including one from a witness who called 911 the night of the shooting, according to the Sentinel.
Many of the witness names were redacted from the eight-page filing, it said, though the names of family members of both victim and shooter who will be called were made public, including Martin’s parents and Zimmerman’s father.
The documents also included the names of 18 police officers from Sanford, the Florida town where the shooting took place, and lead investigator Chris Serino, the Sentinel said.
Martin, who was unarmed, was shot and killed by Zimmerman on Feb. 26 during an encounter in a gated community where Martin was staying with his father.
Zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense, and no charges were filed for weeks after the shooting.
The case sparked a national debate over race, justice and gun rights. Martin, 17, was black, and Zimmerman, 28, is the son of a Hispanic mother and Caucasian father.
Access to evidence in the case has been the source of contention.
Both the prosecution and the defense have said they want to keep some or most of the evidence sealed from the public, arguing that they were concerned about safety of witnesses, according to NBC producer Jamie Novogrod, who is following the case.
If the court allows evidence to remain sealed, a number of news organizations, including the Orlando Sentinel and NBC, are expected to challenge the decision.
The prosecutor's court filing came shortly before the clerk’s office was preparing to close.
Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's defense attorney, said earlier Monday that he expected to get his first look at the evidence, and that he planned to file a motion asking the judge to keep key elements under wraps, the Sentinel reported.
There was no confirmation either that O'Mara had received the evidence or had filed his motion before the court closed at 4:30 p.m.
The court public information officer told NBC that she would release the documents to the public in the morning.
NBC News producer Jamie Novogrod contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Still wearing wedding dress, woman stabbed to death in tub
- Calif. governor calls for higher taxes, 4-day workweek
- John Edwards opens his defense in campaign finance trial
- Lawmaker seeks 'national policy' legalizing same-sex marriages
- Mexico's drug war: No sign of progress
