SANFORD, Florida (AP) A former neighborhood watchman acquitted in the high-profile killing of an unarmed black teen went a judge Tuesday on charges related to a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, his latest brush with the law after being involved in the case that triggered a national debate on race and gun laws.
The 30-year-old George Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, was acquitted earlier this year of all charges in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin after a sensational trial. He faced new charges Tuesday of aggravated assault in court, where a prosecutor said his girlfriend claims he choked her about a week ago but she didn't report it to police at the time.
Both Zimmerman and the woman he was arguing with each called police and provided dueling descriptions to police dispatchers about the argument. Zimmerman's 27-year-old girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, accused him in a police call of pointing a gun at her, smashing a coffee table and then pushing her outside. Zimmerman also called dispatchers, flatly denying pointing a gun at her and blaming her for the broken table.
The facts surrounding Zimmerman's fatal shooting of 17-year-old Martin were equally murky, and Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges. Relatives of Martin, who was unarmed, accused Zimmerman of racially profiling the teen and instigating a fight. Zimmerman said he shot the teen in self-defense. That case sparked nationwide debates about race and self-defense laws that are similar Florida's so-called stand your ground law, which protects gun owners.
Zimmerman has said he shot Martin to defend himself during a fight in February 2012 inside a gated community. Federal authorities are now reviewing the case the see if Martin's civil rights were violated.
In September, just months after his acquittal, Zimmerman and his estranged wife were involved in a domestic dispute at the home they had shared. Just days after Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers, she initially told an emergency dispatcher her husband had a gun, though she later said he was not armed. She also accused of George Zimmerman smashing an iPad during an argument.
Police later said no charges were filed against either of them because of a lack of evidence.
In the latest case, Zimmerman has been charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison if convicted. He also has been charged with battery and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors.
At Zimmerman's first court appearance Tuesday, a judge set Zimmerman's bond at $9,000 and ordered that he not possess guns or ammunition. He was ordered to stay away from the girlfriend's house and wear a monitoring device.
Scheibe told deputies the ordeal started with a verbal argument and that she asked Zimmerman to leave the house. Her account in the arrest report says he began packing his belongings, including a shotgun and an assault rifle. She says she began putting his things in the living room and outside the house, and he became upset. At that point, the report says, he took the shotgun out of its case.
Zimmerman told his girlfriend to leave and smashed a pair of her sunglasses as she walked toward the front door, the report says. Scheibe told deputies he pushed her out of the house when she got close to the door.
"You point your gun at my fricking face," Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman on a police call. "Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house."
Seconds later, she told the dispatcher, "You kidding me? He pushed me out of my house and locked me out. ... He knows how to do this. He knows how to play this game."
Moments later, Zimmerman called police from inside the barricaded house to tell his side of the story.
"I have a girlfriend, who for lack of a better word, has gone crazy on me," Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman then said he never pulled a gun on his girlfriend and that it was she who smashed a table at the home they shared. He also told the dispatcher that Scheibe was pregnant with their child and that she had decided she would raise the child on her own. When Zimmerman started to leave, "she got mad," he said.
Seminole County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma said at a news conference that Scheibe wasn't pregnant. He also said Zimmerman was compliant and unarmed when deputies came to the house.
In 2005, Zimmerman had to take anger management courses after he was accused of attacking an undercover officer who was trying to arrest Zimmerman's friend.
Later that year, Zimmerman's former fiancee filed for a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence. Zimmerman responded by requesting a restraining order against her. Both requests were granted. No criminal charges were filed.
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Associated Press writers Kyle Hightower in Orlando, Florida, and Suzette Laboy in Miami contributed to this report.