Later, it was discovered that Zimmerman had had such a serious argument with his wife on the night before that she had left Zimmerman to go stay at her father's home. She did not return to the home she shared with him the evening that Zimmerman killed Martin.
[h=2]Martin Smeared as "Thug" But Violence Alleged in Zimmerman's Past[/h]With the hateful rhetoric used by Zimmerman fans -- like on FOX where Martin was called a "thug" -- court filings from witnesses who said they experienced Zimmerman's violent reactions indicated behavior that is consistent with the violence his wife claimed occurred this week.
Beyond those court filings, a former co-worker previously told the
New York Daily News that usually Zimmerman was calm when they worked together as security guards but that "it was like Jekyll and Hyde. When the dude snapped, he snapped.
He had a temper and he became a liability, the man said. One time this woman was acting a little out of control. She was drunk. George lost his cool and totally overreacted, he said. It was weird, because he was such a cool guy, but he got all nuts. He picked her up and threw her. It was pure rage. She twisted her ankle. Everyone was flipping out.
However, Zimmerman's criminal history and the allegations of past violence and his temperament were kept from the jury, even though the jury was allowed to learn that Martin had inhaled a controlled substance.
Martin had been suspended from school for tardiness, graffiti with a marker, and possession of a baggie with marijuana residue. Although some have attempted to portray Martin as a criminal for having a trace amount of marijuana in his system the night he was killed, there is no scientific evidence that smoking marijuana typically causes violence; rather, the science indicates the opposite effect. Moreover, according to the U.S. government, in 2012, nearly 40% of American high school seniors had used marijuana in the past year