By msnbc.com, NBC News and news services
Prosecutors on Thursday made public a trove of evidence used to justify murder charges against Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman, including a police report that concluded "the encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman."
The evidence – including 183 pages of documents, witness statements and other material – was released Thursday to news organizations and other requestors by special prosecutor Angela Corey’s office, who has charged the 28-year-old Zimmerman with second-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Also included was a document explaining what material was withheld.
An initial review of the evidence, which was provided to Zimmerman’s attorney early this week, uncovers documentation that will be helpful to both prosecutors and the defense.
An autopsy by the Volusia County Medical Examiner on Martin's body also found that the teenager was killed by a shot to the heart and that THC -- or tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana -- was found in Martin's blood.
And in another report, a police officer responding to the shooting said that after Zimmerman was handcuffed, he saw “that his back appeared to be wet and was covered with grass,” and that he had suffered a bloody nose – consistent with Zimmerman’s account that he was attacked by Martin.
A photo showing the bloodied Zimmerman also is included in the report, as is a paramedic’s reports saying that he had a 1-inch laceration on his head and forehead abrasion.
"Bleeding tenderness to his nose, and a small laceration to the back of his head. All injuries have minor bleeding," paramedic Michael Brandy wrote about Zimmerman's injuries in the report.
But another police report indicated that Zimmerman had called Sanford police on at least four previous occasions while residing in the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford, and in each case the “suspicious person” was a black male.
“Investigation reveals that on Aug. 4, Aug. 5 and Oct. 6, 2001, and on Feb. 2, 2012, George Zimmerman reported suspicious persons – all young black males – in the Retreat neighborhood to Sanford Police Department,” it said. “According to records checks, all of Zimmerman’s suspicious persons calls while residing in the Retreat neighborhood have identified black males as the subjects.”
And a third police report indicated that Sanford police thought Zimmerman was at fault, even though they let him go after questioning him.
"Investigation reveals that Martin was in fact running generally in the direction of where he was staying as a guest in the neighborhood," it said.
Read the police reports and other documentary evidence
Read what was excluded from the release and the reasons it was withheld
An eight-page summary of the evidence against Zimmerman released earlier this week listed 50 possible law enforcement witnesses -- including 18 Sanford police officers as primary witnesses, including lead Investigator Chris Serino -- and 28 civilian witnesses, including Martin's brother, mother and father, Zimmerman’s father and two of his friends . Twenty-two other potential civilian witnesses were not identified.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O'Mara, acknowledged receiving the materials Monday on a website his office set up to release information from the case Zimmerman's, but said, "Please remember and understand that it is inappropriate for us to comment on particular pieces of evidence."
Zimmerman allegedly shot Martin during a confrontation inside the Retreat at Twin Lakes community, was visiting his father’s fiancée.
The shooting came after Zimmerman called 911 reporting that Martin was acting suspiciously, as if he was on drugs. He later told police that he shot Martin in self-defense, after Martin punched him and pushed him to the ground.
Check back for additional developments on this breaking story.
Msnbc.com's Mike Brunker and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News producer Tom Winter and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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