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| 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. Prosecutors announced Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, that they will not file domestic violence charges against Zimmerman. |
MIAMI (AP) --
George Zimmerman will not face domestic violence charges because his
girlfriend did not wish to pursue the case and there was scant evidence
of a crime, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.
Samantha
Scheibe's decision not to cooperate and the lack of other corroborating
evidence would have made the case difficult to prove, State Attorney
Phil Archer in Seminole County said in a statement.
"There is no reasonable likelihood of a successful prosecution," Archer said.
Zimmerman,
30, had faced charges of aggravated assault, battery and criminal
mischief following a Nov. 18 confrontation at the central Florida house
he shared with Scheibe. She initially told police Zimmerman pointed a
shotgun at her face during an argument, smashed her coffee table and
pushed her out of the house.
She recanted much
of that in an affidavit filed this week in which she referred to
Zimmerman as "my boyfriend" and said she wanted him back.
If
convicted of the felony assault charge, Zimmerman could have gotten a
maximum of five years in prison. He had been free on $9,000 bail prior
to Archer's announcement and had been ordered to stay away from
Scheibe's house in Apopka.
Zimmerman's
attorney, Jayne Weintraub, filed a motion earlier this week asking that
the no-contact order be lifted. That motion included Scheibe's affidavit
stating she did not want the prosecution to go forward.
"I
am pleased that I was able to present credible evidence to reasonable
prosecutors who took the time to listen and that justice prevailed,"
Weintraub said in an email. "This demonstrates how great our system is."
The
arrest was one of a string of legal problems for Zimmerman since he was
acquitted last summer of murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old
Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, who was a neighborhood watch volunteer, said
he shot the unarmed, black teenager in self-defense during a
confrontation in February 2012 inside a gated community in Sanford, just
outside Orlando.
Relatives of Martin accused
Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, of racially profiling the
teen and instigating the fight. The case triggered a national debate
about race and an examination of self-defense laws.
In
September, Zimmerman was accused by his estranged wife of smashing an
iPad during an argument at the home they had shared. Shellie Zimmerman
initially told a dispatcher her husband had a gun, though she later said
he was unarmed.
No charges were ever filed
because of a lack of evidence. The dispute occurred days after Shellie
Zimmerman filed divorce papers.
Zimmerman has also been pulled over three times for traffic violations since his acquittal.
