John Raoux / AP
George Zimmerman, right, is escorted to a home by a Lake Mary police officer, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, in Lake Mary, Fla., after a domestic incident in the neighborhood where Zimmerman and his wife Shellie had lived during his trial.
By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News
An iPad that George Zimmerman’s wife used to record him during a confrontation is too badly damaged to quickly retrieve footage that Florida cops need before they decide whether to charge anyone, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
“It’s in really bad shape,” Lake Mary, Fla., Police public information officer Zach Hudson said, adding that it could be weeks or even months before images are recovered from the tablet.
“As it stands right now there will not be any charges any time soon without that iPad.”
Gary W. Green / Pool via AP
Shellie Zimmerman, shown here leaving the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla. on Aug. 28, 2013.
Zimmerman, who was acquitted in July of second-degree murder in the Trayvon Martin shooting, admitted he destroyed the machine during a dispute that erupted Monday while he and estranged wife Shellie were removing their belongings from a home, Hudson said.
Shellie Zimmerman, who filed for divorce a week ago and then criticized her husband in a televised interview, called 911 during the encounter and said he threatened her with a gun and punched her father.
No gun was found, and she later told officers that she never actually saw one, police said. The father did have a red mark on his nose but no injury that required medical treatment, cops said.
George Zimmerman, meanwhile, portrayed his wife as the aggressor and said she hit him with the iPad, police said.
None of the parties pressed charges but since it was classified as a domestic violence case, the police will make final determination as to whether charges will be filed.
The iPad was busted into several pieces and the chip was damaged. Hudson investigators don’t have the in-house tools to recover the video and were trying to figure out how to get it.
“We’re going the extra mile,” he said.
Asked whether police were giving the case extra attention because of Zimmerman’s notoriety, Hudson said no but could not provide other examples of domestic violence arguments where officers went to such lengths.
Home security video released by police shows George Zimmerman’s estranged wife, Shellie, recording George with an iPad. Authorities say footage retrieved from the damaged device could affect whether charges are filed in a reported domestic dispute between the pair. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports.
On Tuesday, police did release footage from the dashcams of police officers who responded to the 911 call.
With guns drawn, the officers ordered George Zimmerman to get out of his car, walk backwards with his hands in the air and get down on his knees before they cuffed him, video released Tuesday showed.
Security video from inside the home only captured the aftermath, “people pointing at each other, people yelling at each other … nothing conclusive,” Hudson said.
The Zimmermans have been married for five years, but Shellie has said that since George’s acquittal, he had only spent a handful of day at home.
On Monday, she and her father and a friend showed up at the house, where the couple had lived during the trial. Subsequently, George Zimmerman showed up with some friends, Hudson said.
As each was collecting their belongings, there was a dispute, and both spouses started recording each other, police said. It’s not clear what happened to the tape made by George Zimmerman.
At the beginning of the 911 call, Shellie Zimmerman told the dispatcher: "He's in his car and he continually has his hand on his gun and he keeps saying, 'Step closer.' He's just threatening all of us with his firearm."
"I don't know what he's capable of," she also said on the call. "I'm really, really scared."
Hudson suggested it was possible that in a state of fear, the wife jumped to conclusions when her husband put his hand some place he would normally have a weapon.
With guns drawn police officers order George Zimmerman to get out of his car, walk backwards with his hands in the air and get down on his knees before cuffing him.
Zimmerman's criminal defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, is not representing him in connection with the dispute or the divorce but will remain his lawyer for matters stemming from the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting of Martin – which sparked a national debate on guns, race and self-defense laws.
In late August, Shellie Zimmerman pleaded guilty to a perjury charge for misleading a Florida court about her family’s finances during a bail hearing for her husband. Her plea deal — in which she avoided a felony conviction — gave her a year’s probation and 100 hours of community service.
Editor’s note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.
This story was originally published on Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:37 PM EDT
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