Texts and photos from Trayvon Martin’s cell phone were released Thursday by defense attorneys for George Zimmerman. Some of the photos appear to have been released online previously while others, including photos of a Smith & Wesson handgun, appear to be new.
One series of photos shows Martin blowing smoke while another shows a close-up of a small marijuana plant growing in a pot. In addition to the photos there are multiple references to smoking marijuana in the text messages released Thursday.
The messages from Martin’s phone reveal that he was told to spend time with his father in Orlando after he was suspended from school for fighting. At one point before he leaves town it appears Martin attempted to obtain a gun.
From the moment the case became national news a battle has been waged over how to fairly present Trayvon Martin to the public. The most widely used image of Martin was an older photo released by his family. Other photos, including some of those released by Zimmerman’s defense attorneys Thursday, appeared in public later via Martin’s Twitter account.
Martin’s family and supporters have maintained that none of the photos or information about his suspension from school are relevant to the shooting, however Zimmerman’s attorneys may attempt to use some of this material at trial.
After the defense released the information from his cell phone, an attorney for the family issued a statement which read “The pretrial release of these irrelevant red herrings is a desperate and pathetic attempt by the defense to pollute and sway the jury pool.”
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