An aggravated assault case against former volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman that was opened when his ex-girlfriend said he threw a wine bottle at her has been dropped because she recanted her story and stopped cooperating with investigators, a prosecutor said today.
State Attorney Phil Archer said he wouldn't file a formal charge against Zimmerman, 31, who was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin. The killing of the unarmed black teen touched off protests across the US.
The ex-girlfriend had made it clear she didn't want to cooperate with police, and there were no other eyewitnesses to what happened earlier this month, Archer said.
Zimmerman was arrested three weeks ago. Three days later, in a sworn statement 28-year-old Brittany Brunelle asked that no charges be filed against Zimmerman.
She said she was under no pressure and had been offered no money to make the statement. It was released today by the State Attorney's Office. Previously, officials hadn't identified her.
Brunelle didn't return a call to her cellphone Friday. Zimmerman had denied throwing the bottle and disputed her claim that he destroyed her cellphone. A person who answered Zimmerman's cellphone Friday morning said he wasn't George Zimmerman and wouldn't comment on the case.
Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, called the case "more complicated than it initially appeared" and said he was disappointed Zimmerman had been arrested in the first place given the doubts surrounding the case.
Zimmerman was accused by his estranged wife of smashing an iPad during an argument at the home they had shared. Shellie Zimmerman initially told a dispatcher her husband had a gun, though she later said he was unarmed. No charges were filed because of a lack of evidence. The dispute occurred days after Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers.
