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Nancy Grace
George Zimmerman in Trouble Again?
Aired September 09, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911. Do you need police, fire or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This (INAUDIBLE) police.
911 OPERATOR: All right, we do have units en route to you, ma`am. Is he still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he is, and he`s trying to shove (ph) (INAUDIBLE) on me.
911 OPERATOR: Is he inside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, 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...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... with firearms. And he`s going to shoot us.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He punched my dad in the nose. My dad has a mark on his face. I saw his glasses on the floor. He accosted my father, and then took my iPad out of my hand and smashed it and cut it with a pocket knife. And there`s a Lake Mary city worker across the street that I believe saw almost all of it.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) He just showed up here, but my phone died, so I had to call you from my father`s phone.
911 OPERATOR: OK. That`s what I was wondering. I was trying to get back and it kept going to voicemail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I`m really, really...
(CROSSTALK)
911 OPERATOR: ... stay in the area where you`re at, OK? So just stay on the line with me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK. I don`t know what he`s capable of. I`m really, really scared.
911 OPERATOR: All right. There are (INAUDIBLE) units in the area, all right? You said this is Shellie, right? What`s your phone number that you`re calling on now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Oh, the police are here.
911 OPERATOR: Yes, what is Zimmerman doing right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s in his truck. There`s police here (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Does he see them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry?
911 OPERATOR: Does he see them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. They`re telling his bodyguard to get out of the way. Oh, my God. Dad -- Dad, get behind the car or something! I don`t know if (INAUDIBLE) shooting at us or not.
911 OPERATOR: Are you guys outside right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we are. (INAUDIBLE) Dad, get inside the house! (INAUDIBLE) shooting at us. I don`t know. We`re going inside the house.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Go back inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: Are you guys both inside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Stay in there, OK? Let the police take care of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. He`s got his hands in the air. He`s not touching his weapon.
911 OPERATOR: OK. OK. Does your father need medical...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad, do you need medical? He says no, but I think he does. He does need medical. He`s shaken. He said he feels like he`s going to have a heart attack. His nose -- yes, you do, because your nose looks like it could be broken. I think he should have medical. See if we can have an ambulance come.
911 OPERATOR: Sure. They (INAUDIBLE) they won`t be able to approach until the situation outside is secure, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK. Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: OK...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: You guys are safe inside, correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: Shellie, you`re doing really good, OK? This is a tough situation for anyone, all right? I`ll stay on the line with you, all right, until our units can speak with you, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
911 OPERATOR: Are you OK? You said he did take something out of your hands. Do you need medical, as well?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think so. Maybe just shock.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. I`m going to go ahead and get updated (ph) response, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Dad, get inside right now!
911 OPERATOR: Make sure he stays inside until someone comes and lets you know it`s OK for you to step out. Stay inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
911 OPERATOR: (INAUDIBLE) on the line to come to you, all right? But like I said, they can`t come up to check out your father until they secure the scene, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Hold on one second.
911 OPERATOR: OK, Shellie. Take a couple deep breaths for me, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone`s in there? Oh! There`s a woman in there. Oh, my God! Oh!
911 OPERATOR: Shellie?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Breaking news tonight, live, Sanford, Florida. A 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch. In a stunning verdict, that watch captain, George Zimmerman, acquitted.
Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, just two business days after his wife files for divorce, George Zimmerman back in police custody on yet another alleged gun assault. You heard me right, George Zimmerman, acquitted by a Florida jury in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, in the last hours back in police detainment on yet another gun charge!
You just heard our transcription. We just finished it in time to go to air, of that 911 call. That was his wife, Shellie.
Out to you, Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, HLN. What happened, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nancy, the police are confirming tonight that a gun was present at the scene. They will not confirm that a gun was used to threaten anyone at the scene.
GRACE: Well, hold on. Hold on. Wait a minute, Jean. I hear on the 911 call a woman`s voice says, His hands are in the air. They`re not on his weapon. Police say he had a weapon. If he had a weapon -- and we understand that the wife`s father`s nose was gushing blood where he had punched it -- I mean, what am I missing?
CASAREZ: Well, the 911 call also says that George Zimmerman`s hand was on his weapon that we believe was holstered, saying, You take one step farther, and I`m going shoot. And that, I think, the police are having an issue with at this point.
GRACE: And that, Steve Helling, writer for "People" magazine, is why many people thought he should never have left jail.
Well, there`s Frank Taaffe. Hi, Taaffe. I`ll go to you instead of Helling. What`s your man doing out with a gun?
FRANK TAAFFE, FRIEND OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: Well, they`re in the midst of a divorce, and just a week ago, she goes on national TV...
GRACE: Wa-wait! Wait! Wait! Did you just say they`re in a divorce, so he should have a gun? I asked you, what is he doing brandishing a gun?
TAAFFE: He didn`t brandish a gun. He had his hand on the gun. He didn`t point the gun. if you listen to the 911 tape, he -- she says he didn`t point the gun, but he has a gun. He`s not -- there was no indication that he pointed a gun at her.
GRACE: Oh, so he just comes toward her with his hand on the gun, Taaffe, and you`re saying...
TAAFFE: That`s Shellie`s -- that`s Shellie`s version.
(CROSSTALK)
TAAFFE: That`s Shellie`s version.
GRACE: Really? How did her father get a bloody nose?
TAAFFE: Well, we`ll have to find out the facts and the evidence in the case, won`t we? As of this moment, we only know her version.
GRACE: OK. So it`s either her father punched himself in the nose, she punched her father in the nose to set up George Zimmerman, or George Zimmerman punched him in the nose. So what do you think, Taaffe? There`s only three people there and one has a bloody nose.
TAAFFE: Well, there`s her side, his side and the truth. And I believe that the truth will come out that, you know, she made it up.
GRACE: You know what?
TAAFFE: It`s all contrived.
GRACE: You know what? You just can`t stand it, can you, that your man, George Zimmerman, has done it again. Here he is...
TAAFFE: I can stand anything.
GRACE: ... with a gun after just being acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin -- here he is bullying his wife with his hand on a gun, police called to the scene. How long has it been, a couple of months, since he just walked out?
TAAFFE: Well, I think her story is -- July 13th, yes. It`s coming up exactly two months, coming up on two months. But the bottom line is that we only hear...
GRACE: Joining me right now -- hold -- hold on, Taaffe. I`m coming right back to you. But right now, I`m hearing in my ear, straight out of Lake Mary, Florida, is Zach Hudson, the Lake Mary Police Department public information officer.
Officer, thank you for being with us.
ZACH HUDSON, LAKE MARY POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): My pleasure, ma`am. Thanks for having me.
GRACE: Yes, sir. What can you tell me, Officer, about what happened?
HUDSON: We received a 911 phone call from Shellie Zimmerman that there was a sort of altercation between her, her father and George Zimmerman and that she felt threatened because he allegedly stuck his hand in his shirt or on his person, and she felt threatened by that, feeling there might be a weapon there. As a result of that, she called 911.
GRACE: Did he have a weapon, Zach? Officer Hudson, did he have a weapon on him when police got there?
HUDSON: No. We`ve not seen a weapon. She actually never saw a weapon, and we`ve not recovered a weapon.
GRACE: Then what happened?
HUDSON: We got there and we placed him in custody, in investigative custody or detention, as we say, and we started conducting the investigation.
GRACE: Could you tell me if the father-in-law, Shellie`s father, had taken a punch to the nose?
HUDSON: According to -- according to the father-in-law and George, there was a -- some sort of altercation between them. I don`t know if he was struck or not. There`s no obvious physical signs that he`d been struck. Our fire department came out and took a look at him, and that was pretty much the end of it. They did not treat him for anything.
GRACE: With me right now out of Lake Mary, Florida, is the PIO, public information officer, out of Lake Mary Police Department.
Out to you -- let me try this time to go to Steve Helling with "People" magazine joining me there in Florida. Steve Helling, based on the 911 call, the wife was once again in fear. Now, is this Zimmerman`s first domestic incident?
STEVE HELLING, "PEOPLE": No. It actually is not his first domestic incident. If you go back several years, his fiancee at the time also alleged that there was, you know, some sort of physical altercation, as well. So this is not the first time we`ve been there.
GRACE: Wait, wait. Helling! Helling!
HELLING: Yes?
GRACE: You work for "People" magazine. Right?
HELLING: I certainly do.
GRACE: OK, you`re a writer, correct?
HELLING: Yes, I am.
GRACE: And you work with the facts, do you not?
HELLING: I love facts.
GRACE: OK. Well, tell me something. When you say some sort of incident, why do I have to ask you, a writer, for "People" magazine, what do you mean by that? What do you mean, an "incident"?
HELLING: Well, you know, obviously, it was one of those things that never ended up as a conviction of any sort. So we don`t know exactly what happened so many years ago.
GRACE: Well, how about this -- let me...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... someone that knows what is in...
HELLING: Good idea.
GRACE: ... the police report. Jean Casarez, HLN legal correspondent, isn`t it true that police were called to the Zimmerman home with his first fiancee on a domestic claim?
CASAREZ: That`s right, and we specifically know this because there was an entire hearing based on it in the Zimmerman trial. It did not come before the Zimmerman jury. But this was a prior girlfriend, and it was one evening, and George Zimmerman wanted to go out of the apartment. They got into a physical altercation.
She then went to a judge and got a temporary restraining order because of the situation. He also then got a temporary restraining order.
And let us not forget another incident. That was when he was with a buddy of his and the buddy was detained by a law enforcement officer, alcohol control. He didn`t like that. George Zimmerman got into a physical altercation with the law enforcement officer, was brought up on charges and did a diversion program for anger management.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911, do you need police, fire or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is (INAUDIBLE) I need police.
911 OPERATOR: All right. We do have units en route to you, ma`am. Is he still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he is, and he`s trying to shut the garage door on me.
911 OPERATOR: Is he inside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. 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...
911 OPERATOR: Step closer or what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... with his firearm. And he`s going to shoot us.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He punched my dad in the nose. My dad has a mark on his face. I saw his glasses were on the floor. He accosted my father and took my iPad out of my hands and smashed it and cut it with a pocket knife. And there`s a -- a Lake Mary city worker across the street that I believe saw almost all of it.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doing an investigation right now in reference to a domestic violence call, domestic battery potentially. And we`re doing the investigation and trying to sort out what we have.
QUESTION: How many potential witnesses are there? You said multiple people (INAUDIBLE) How many people are we talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know the exact number. Generally speaking, when a 911 call goes out, the person calling is generally the one who is in the defense, if you will. But that`s not necessarily consistent with domestic violence. So it`s hard to tell. We`re trying to sort that...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the last hours, George Zimmerman back, the source of a 911 call after an alleged gun incident, a gun incident with his wife, who about two business days ago, filed for divorce.
According to the complaint, her father, Zimmerman`s current father-in- law, took a punch to the nose, and Zimmerman had a weapon, according to the 911 call.
We are live and taking your calls. Yvonne in Georgia. Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Yes. My question is this. I want to know why wasn`t George Zimmerman arrested today? I have been a police officer. I`m resigned police officer. And first of all, police officers do not investigate crimes. They do not. You get a call. You respond to a scene. You investigate -- don`t investigate. You make an assessment based on probable cause.
There was more than enough probable cause. You don`t need Mrs. Zimmerman`s statement. You don`t need her husband`s. You make your observations. I mean, it doesn`t take a 1 -- man team to do a consultation on whether someone should be arrested or not. This guy is like...
GRACE: Hey, Yvonne -- Liz, hold Yvonne, please. Yvonne, if you could look at your screen right now -- that is -- go back to what we were just looking at, please, Liz, if you could. That is Zimmerman`s vehicle that you see and the police approaching the vehicle earlier with guns drawn. They`re all coming out of that home right there.
Back to Yvonne in Georgia -- Georgia`s Yvonne, what is your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question, why wasn`t he arrested? They had enough probable cause. They`re making an investigation out of something. Police do not investigate crimes. They make an assessment based on probable cause. He hit the guy in the nose...
GRACE: Yvonne, you`re absolutely right.
Out to Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst and the director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute. Sheryl, what happened?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: Nancy, it looks like this guy just believes he is bulletproof. He`s going to go there with a gun. He`s going to make threats. He knows she`s on the phone. And once again, he doesn`t drive off. He`s going to sit there and let them show up. And then suddenly, there`s no gun. Suddenly, the father-in-law doesn`t need medical attention. Suddenly, all these things that Shellie may have said aren`t true.
This is volatile, and this is what happens when you basically give somebody this, Hey, I`m larger than any law. Nobody can tell me what to do. We`ve seen in recent weeks all the speeding tickets. He thinks he`s bullet-proof.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
911 OPERATOR: You guys are safe outside (ph), correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: Shellie, you`re doing really good, OK? This is a tough situation for anyone, all right? I`ll stay on the line with you, all right, until our units can speak with you, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. For those of you just joining us, I`m sure the name Trayvon Martin rings a bell. Well, the man who walked free on Trayvon Martin`s shooting death, George Zimmerman, in the last hours back under suspicion, police arriving after a 911 call in which his wife, Shellie, who coincidentally filed for divorce two business days before, calls 911, claiming Zimmerman is brandishing a weapon and that he`s already accosted her father.
We are live and taking your calls. To Zunike (ph) in Georgia. Hi, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey. I was just wondering if, since (ph) Zimmerman claimed that Shellie was the aggressor, why didn`t -- if she wasn`t the aggressor, why won`t she file charges?
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Rod Vereen. As you recall, Mr. Vereen represented prosecution witness Rachel Jeantel in the Zimmerman trial, Jeff Gold, defense attorney who was there at the Zimmerman trial, and renowned attorney Yale Galanter, former lawyer for O.J. Simpson. Welcome to all of you gentlemen.
First of all, straight out to Rod Vereen. What do you make of it, Rod?
ROD VEREEN, REPRESENTED RACHEL JEANTEL: Well, I`m not shocked. You know, George Zimmerman likes firearms. This is what we call in the boxing world round two. The first round went to him. Now I`m anxious to see whether or not there`s going to be sufficient evidence that the law enforcement officers can put together that can bring charges.
Based on the 911 tape, which contains excited utterances and present tense (ph) impressions of Shellie Zimmerman, there appears to be probable cause to have effectuated an arrest of George Zimmerman, but...
GRACE: Which makes me -- Rod Vereen, I agree -- go back to Yvonne`s first question, who called in. Yale Galanter, based on everything we`re hearing, why wasn`t there an arrest, Yale?
YALE GALANTER, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR O.J. SIMPSON: Well, there probably wasn`t an arrest because the father and Mrs. Zimmerman told the police they didn`t want to prosecute. And these cases are very difficult to prove when you have reluctant witnesses. You, of course, can. You have to make motions to hold witnesses in contempt, compel their testimony. And most police departments and state attorneys` offices do not want to do that if the complaining witnesses don`t want to come forward and come to court.
GRACE: Well, all I know is this. Sheryl McCollum said it best. He`s bulletproof.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, George Zimmerman once again in the middle of a police 911 call involving yet another alleged gun incident. A 911 call made by Zimmerman`s wife Shellie, coincidentally just two business days after she files for divorce from Zimmerman. In the call, she`s frantic, claiming that Zimmerman has a gun, that she is afraid, that he`s already accosted her father. And lo and behold, as I`m sitting here, I hear in my ear that Zimmerman`s defense is that his wife was the aggressor. Wow. This sounds familiar. What`s he going to do, Taaffe? Claim stand your ground again?
TAAFFE: Well, you know, we`ve got to not forget that Shellie Zimmerman is a convicted perjurer. So you have to understand where this all was fabricated from.
GRACE: Put him up.
You know what, Taaffe?
TAAFFE: What?
GRACE: You might be able to get away with saying that to somebody else, but right here, you`re going to be held accountable for that, because what you`re talking about was when she was on the stand trying to help her husband.
TAAFFE: She made all this up. First of all, the facts -- the facts and the evidence will weigh in.
GRACE: And now you`re firing (inaudible).
TAAFFE: Hey, the facts and the evidence are going to weigh in. As of this moment, they haven`t charged him.
GRACE: What do you mean? Facts and evidence are going to weigh in?
TAAFFE: I know exactly what I`m talking about.
GRACE: That doesn`t even make sense. The facts are going to weigh in. That does not even--
TAAFFE: The facts and the evidence -- this is a domestic violence issue.
GRACE: Oh, so that means it`s not a big deal?
TAAFFE: And I don`t know if you`ve ever been involved in a divorce, but just last week she`s trashing her husband on national TV.
GRACE: So it`s OK--
TAAFFE: Saying he`s selfish--
GRACE: -- that he has a gun?
TAAFFE: She wants him to put a $1 million life insurance policy that she`s the beneficiary, and worse yet, she wants his dog.
GRACE: Probably because she`s scared, I wonder why.
TAAFFE: She wants his dog. They don`t have children.
GRACE: You mean her dog?
TAAFFE: That`s his baby. She wants his dog. That`s his baby. And, you know what? She`s not going to get it.
GRACE: You know what? Are you trying to tell me that that somehow justifies him hitting her father? And --
TAAFFE: We don`t know that.
GRACE: -- pulling a gun or threatening her?
TAAFFE: That`s her version.
GRACE: Her version.
TAAFFE: That`s her version. Nancy, we don`t know that. We know coming from a convicted perjurer, we need to find out just like in the Zimmerman, the Trayvon Martin shooting, we need to find out the facts and the evidence in this case.
GRACE: Well, this is what I know. I know that his fiancee claimed that he attacked her. I know that he attacked a police officer. You and I have gone around and around about that before. So if he`s not trying to attack a police officer --
TAAFFE: That was dismissed. Lack of evidence. It was dismissed. He had anger management and he successfully completed that, and that was all in the past.
GRACE: Well, obviously it wasn`t quite as successful as you are suggesting. Let`s see what we can learn from the 911 call, Taaffe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911. You need police, fire or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible) police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right we do have a unit en route to you, ma`am. Is he still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he is, and he is trying to shut the garage door on me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he inside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Trying to shut the garage door on her?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He punched my dad in the nose. My dad has a mark on his face. I saw his glasses. They`re on the floor. He accosted my father, and then took my iPad out of my hand and smashed it and cut it with a pocket knife. And there`s a -- a Lake Mary City worker across the street that I believe saw almost all of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Took out a pocket knife. Used it on her iPad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just showed up here. My phone died so I had to call you from my father`s phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. That`s what I was wondering. I was trying to call you back and it kept going to voicemail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I`m really, really --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have units in the area where you`re at. OK? So just stay on the line with me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK. I don`t know what he`s capable of. I`m really scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. There are multiple units in the area. All right. You said this is Shellie. Right? What`s your phone number that you`re calling on now?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. If he doesn`t have a gun, why is she so afraid? Why is he hiding in his truck?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s police here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you see them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he see them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Um, yes. They`re telling his body guard to get out of the way. Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: His bodyguard? Are we paying for his bodyguard?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you outside right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we are. (inaudible). Dad, get inside the house. George may start shooting at us. I don`t know. We`re going inside the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, go back inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you guys both inside now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Stay in there. OK? Let the police take care of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
He`s got his hands in the air. He`s not touching his weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, OK. Is your father -- does he need medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dad, do you need medical? He says, no, but I think he does. He does need medical. He`s shaking, he said he feels like he`s going to have a heart attack. His nose -- yes, you do. Because your nose looks like -- it could be broken. I think he should have a medical. If we can have an ambulance come.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure. They won`t be able to approach until the situation outside is secured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, OK.
Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Matt Zarrell on the story. Matt, she and her father are both hiding in the house. Police approach Zimmerman with guns drawn. What led up to this? What`s this all about, Matt?
ZARRELL: Nancy, our understanding is it all goes back to Shellie Zimmerman filing for divorce just a couple of days ago. According to Zimmerman`s defense attorney, Shellie Zimmerman was the one who had actually moved out of the home and was in the process of going back today and getting some of her belongings, and they were separating the belongings, and that`s when the disagreement took place.
GRACE: OK. Matt Zarrell, I like the way you say, "the disagreement." You know, Matt, typically disagreements don`t involve allegations of brandishing weapons and calling 911.
ZARRELL: I understand that, Nancy, but my interpretation of this is that if Shellie Zimmerman were really scared for her life and really concerned for her safety, she would have pressed charges, she would file a protective order, and I did not see that.
GRACE: Oh, really? Is that true, Matt Zarrell? How many cases have we filed, have we covered where women don`t call police and they`ve been beaten for years, Matt Zarrell, how can you even say that?
ZARRELL: But, Nancy, we have the prior allegations already. We know Zimmerman`s history, we know what came out at trial. We know what she witnessed with her father getting injured. Just for the safety of her father, she should press charges.
GRACE: I know, but you just said, Matt Zarrell, if it really happened, why isn`t she pressing charges? Michael Christian, joining me, investigative reporter and producer. Michael Christian, how many hundreds of cases have we covered where women are mistreated and abused and they never tell police?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes. Way too many of those, Nancy. You know that. Way, way, too many of those. This is interesting, though, because from what we`ve been told, after she called 911, Shellie Zimmerman didn`t directly talk to the police immediately. She called her attorney to talk to him. So attorneys were involved on her side right away. Later, Mark O`Mara shows up at the house to talk to George Zimmerman. So this is a case before people are really talking to police, they`re talking to their attorneys.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zimmerman`s wife Shellie filed for divorce, according to her attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She stood by her man, like Tammy Wynette says. And she probably shouldn`t have.
SHELLIE ZIMMERMAN: I stood by my husband through everything, and I kind of feel like he left me with a bunch of pieces of broken glass. That I`m supposed to now assemble and make a life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Shellie Zimmerman on ABC`s GMA. Two business days before this incident, she files for divorce, and suddenly 911 called to the scene, with Zimmerman brandishing a gun and has already accosted, assaulted her father. Out to you, Frank Taaffe, friend of George Zimmerman.
Mr. Taaffe, what is the reason behind their divorce? I don`t know why you`re holding that.
TAAFFE: This baby right here. This baby right here.
GRACE: Are they divorcing over a dog?
TAAFFE: This is their baby. This is his baby.
GRACE: That`s not what I asked you.
TAAFFE: This dog is their baby.
GRACE: OK. Great. Why are they getting a divorce?
TAAFFE: Well, the relationship was strained even before the shooting. She was living out of the house on the night of the shooting, and then --
GRACE: She came to court every day during the trial.
TAAFFE: Well, you know, Nancy, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Their marriage is in so much trouble she stood by him all that time?
TAAFFE: What happened to better or worse? What happened when you take a marriage vow for better or worse?
GRACE: Here we go.
TAAFFE: I mean, honestly--
GRACE: Can you answer? Do you know why they`re getting a divorce?
TAAFFE: -- better or worse, in sickness and in health, or murder trial or perjury trial.
GRACE: OK. So I take it that you don`t know why they`re getting a divorce?
TAAFFE: Yes. They`re getting a divorce over the fact of irreconcilable differences.
GRACE: I know, but what?
TAAFFE: (inaudible) right there. It means I don`t get along with you anymore.
GRACE: OK. All right. Never mind. Unleash the lawyers. Rod Vereen, who represented prosecution witness Rachel Jeantel, Jeff Gold, defense attorney who was at the trial, Yale Galanter. Out to you, Jeff Gold, let`s hear your side.
GOLD: We just listened to the PIO, the police information officer, say there was no gun, and in addition to that, there was no mark to show an altercation on the dad. I think you just showed that Shellie Zimmerman is a liar again. And you may make fun of Frank Taaffe, but look, she was convicted of perjury. And there were no charges issued by the police. Put that all together, and this is a bunch of hyper talk that we don`t know is true at all, after she filed for divorce two days before. Let`s give the guy a break. He`s being followed and we`re having the news that he`s a speeder. God forbid. Now we`re putting on a domestic with no charges. I say give the guy a little time, let`s find out what happened.
GRACE: Back out to you, Sheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, I want to hear your response to what Gold just said.
MCCOLLUM: Well, he is a speeder. He has no regard for the law. That`s been very clear. If he believed that Shellie was the aggressor, why didn`t he call 911, if he was in fear? Just like he was on with 911 while he followed Trayvon. But after he shot him, he didn`t feel the need to call them back.
GRACE: It is interesting that once the trial is over, Steve Helling, with "People" magazine, that now there`s a divorce. Now she is saying that he is waving a gun at her and she`s afraid. Basically, now, I know there`s a large portion of the trial she couldn`t come into the courtroom, because she was going to be a witness for witness sequestration issues, but she was at that courthouse on and off throughout the trial, supporting him. The whole reason she got charged with perjury is over his bank account where he was getting money from the public and then wrote down that he didn`t have enough money and needed an indigent lawyer. That`s how that went down. And now the trial is over and he`s in the clear, suddenly he doesn`t need her anymore, and they`re getting a divorce.
HELLING: Well, you know, there is no question that during the trial she was there for him. And there`s no question about that. She talks about how she was living in different places, so she was going around and living with him after the shooting. And so, yes. Now this happens, and, you know, Mark O`Mara says this was an argument over pots and pans. So obviously little things are now starting to really get in between them, and another thing Mark O`Mara says, this is definitely headed to divorce. No reconciliation. They`re not going to contact each other anymore. It`s all going to be done (inaudible).
GRACE: Not after today. Out to Greg Cason, psychologist. Greg, what`s your analysis?
GREG CASON, PSYCHOLOGIST: I think this is one of those cases where he is a person who absolutely wants control. We saw him, the -- his wife filed for divorce only two days beforehand, and he goes now back to the house. Goes and won`t leave the house. Nobody`s mentioning the fact that that truck just sits out there as the police come after him. He wants control over the situation. Same thing happened the night with Trayvon Martin, when he had to have control, because his wife left him that night, and he went out on a vigilante call.
GRACE: Well, what`s interesting, and this is already swirling, Jean Casarez, is that the wife, Shellie, set this whole thing up. That`s not my allegation. But that is already what his defenders are saying, Jean.
CASAREZ: Well, Nancy, you uncovered a major inconsistency. You broke some news tonight in regard to the police department saying that they couldn`t find a gun, that George Zimmerman didn`t have a gun, because the police department had said there was a gun. They just didn`t know if it was used to threaten or not. Well, if we take that (inaudible) inconsistencies throughout this entire 911 call.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is Shellie Zimmerman claiming at this point happened?
ZACH HUDSON, LAKE MARY POLICE DEPARTMENT: She`s claiming that, according to the 911 call --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: There you see police just after George Zimmerman`s wife calls police, calls 911, claiming he was brandishing a weapon and already assaulted her father. We are taking your calls. Kathy in California, hi, Kathy, what`s your question?
CALLER: I have a question. I was abused in 2004 in the state of Illinois, and there I decided not to prosecute, which was dumb on my part, but the D.A. did. And is that -- does Florida law have that?
GRACE: You know, Kathy, when I prosecuted, very often women would try to back out of the initial police report. I mean, you know, Sheryl McCollum, that`s how far back we go, what was it, in `87 we were there in city court dealing with battered women`s cases, and you were in a program trying to give them free cell phones to use.
MCCOLLUM: Absolutely.
GRACE: In the time of an emergency. That`s when we first met. And very often prosecutors have to make cases, even when the women don`t want to cooperate, because they`re afraid to.
MCCOLLUM: Absolutely. That`s the threat. They will tell them, you know, they`re beating them anyway, but if you call the police, I will kill you. Then when the police show up and they know there is going to be a trial, the violence escalates. Nancy, we all know that. And George Zimmerman, we know for a fact, is capable of taking the life of another person.
GRACE: But I tell you something, in this case, Sheryl, I think the defense lawyers are right, they`ve got me over a barrel on this.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCOLLUM: Sure, there`s credibility.
GRACE: -- without any visible -- she`s not bleeding, she is not bruised, she doesn`t have a broken arm, and she doesn`t testify, what do you have?
MCCOLLUM: They can`t find the gun.
GRACE: Yes. So here, they`re technically right. The state may not have the evidence to go forward if this woman will not cooperate. Out to the lines, Diane in Virginia, hi, Diane, what`s your question?
CALLER: Nancy, I just love you to death. I just really feel like after watching this unfold on HLN today, that as soon as Mark O`Mara showed up, I know she`s afraid, being Shellie Zimmerman. And I feel like he put pressure on her to maybe not do anything, and you`re right, he is just untouchable in Florida.
GRACE: Yes, you know, Jean Casarez, HLN legal correspondent, what happened? As soon as his defense attorney got there, everything kind of dissipated, and it was decided, and suddenly there were no charges being pressed?
CASAREZ: You know, there was a coincidence there that he even wasn`t being detained anymore I think after Mark O`Mara hit the scene. It either was a coincidence or this reasonable detention power the police had, it can only last for so long.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We remember American hero, Army Sergeant Jason McCluskey, just 26, McCallister (ph), Oklahoma. Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, parents Delores and Jimmy, brother Joshua, son Landon. Jason McCluskey, American hero.
And now back to a significant turn of events. George Zimmerman back at the center of controversy, a 911 call by his wife claiming that in the last hours, he brandishes a weapon, a gun, and punches her father in the nose. We are just getting in from TMZ that one person on record, George Zimmerman, is not the guy you want as your next-door neighbor. It`s the chief of police, Lake Mary, Florida. Police Chief Steve Bracknell (ph) says he`s frustrated Shellie Zimmerman changes her story, now saying Zimmerman did not have his hand on a gun or in a threatening manner while arguing with her father. You know, it`s extremely disconcerting that she`s so afraid, she calls 911, and then suddenly once all the lawyers arrive on the scene, everything changes, Michael Christian. I find that very odd. Do you?
CHRISTIAN: Yes. However, you`ve got to remember, this is a divorce, this is a fresh divorce, emotions run very, very, very high in these things. A lot of times people on both sides say things that when they have a moment to reflect, they take back, or the stories change a little bit. That`s not incredibly surprising. It`s surprising here, because this is such a high profile thing, but it`s not surprising in a new divorce.
GRACE: Shellie Zimmerman suddenly is changing her story from Zimmerman had a gun, now he does not have a gun. The police chief says I would not want to be his neighbor. Zimmerman back in the news tonight with another alleged gun assault.
As we go to break, a special good night from Florida and Georgia, friends. Charleen (ph) and Sharon (ph). Aren`t these beautiful? Everyone, Dr. Drew up next. It`s all over there in Florida. The police have gone home, but the story goes on. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
