News

Zimmerman Gets Off AGAIN

by Seth Millstein

It seems that the luckiest man in Florida, George Zimmerman, won’t face domestic violence charges after all, as the case against him collapsed after his accuser retracted her allegations. State Attorney Phil Archer announced Wednesday that there’s “no reasonable likelihood of a successful prosecution” against Zimmerman without the testimony of Samantha Scheibe, since there isn’t any other evidence to corroborate Scheibe’s earlier claims that in November, Zimmerman allegedly pointed a shotgun in her face, smashed a table, and pushed her out her home.

Scheibe made the accusations earlier this month, and Zimmerman was charged with aggravated assault. But she abruptly retracted her claims yesterday, saying that actually, Zimmerman didn’t point a gun in her face, or do any of the other things she said he did during her panicked 9-11 call. In a sworn statement, she claimed that she had “misspoken,” that the police “misinterpreted” her, and that she doesn’t want Zimmerman charged. How it’s possible to “misinterpret” a claim that someone didn’t point a gun at you as meaning that they actually did point a gun at you is up for debate, but regardless, Scheibe says that she and Zimmerman are back together, and she just wants to move on.

This isn’t the first time one of Zimmerman’s partners has accused him of pointing a gun at her, then backtracked and opted not to press charges. His ex-wife, Shellie, did that as well, although in that case, Zimmerman reportedly threatened her father, as well.

Zimmerman’s lawyer, Jayne Weintraub, responded to the news — and this isn’t a joke — by explaining that the decision not to press charges “demonstrates how great our system is.” We’re betting Trayvon Martin’s parents don’t agree.