Earlier this afternoon, the Sanford Police Department released new details in the Trayvon Martin case that seem to support George Zimmerman's claim that Trayvon was the aggressor. Zimmerman claims that Trayvon decked him with a punch to the nose and slammed his head to the ground several times. Zimmerman's account, according to police, has been corroborated by several witnesses.
However, one of the first reports on this case has me taking this with a hefty amount of salt. It seems that Sanford police coached at least one witness' account of what happened.
An officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me," the report said.
[snip]
Another officer corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help.
The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.
In light of this development, as well as what we already know about this police department's sketchy past, it's only fair to ask if other witnesses were coached as well. Regardless of who the aggressor was, if witnesses were coached in any way the entire investigation gets tainted.
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Trayvon was the aggressor. Even if that were the case, there is no defensible reason to correct a witness who says otherwise. Period. Especially given that we already know Sanford is a powder keg. How in the world can a community be expected to trust a police department that tries to coach witnesses?
From what I'm seeing so far, the right is already seizing on the new details released by the police department as proof that Zimmerman is innocent. But even if Zimmerman is in the right, if even one witness was coached, heads in that police department need to roll.
12:53 PM PT: Since I came back from a shower to find this on the rec list, I thought I'd mention that several commenters found serious problems with the police account, even if there was no coaching involved. For instance, Zimmerman outweighed Trayvon by anywhere from 50-100 pounds, so it's hard to believe he was being beaten into a pulp the way he claims. Also, there's no record as of yet of Zimmerman being taken to a hospital.
3:07 PM PT: Per dmhlt 66 in the comments, the police report can be viewable here and here.