The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160918013603/http://www.aol.com/article/2016/09/16/florida-man-convicted-of-attempted-murder-of-george-zimmerman/21473784/
Florida man convicted of attempted murder of George Zimmerman
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida man was found guilty on Friday of attempted murder for shooting at George Zimmerman during a roadside confrontation with the ex-neighborhood watch captain widely known for killing unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, local media reported.
Matthew Apperson, 37, who according to prosecutors has a history of mental illness, was convicted in a jury trial in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, according to accounts by the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and 24-hour Orlando television news channel News 13.
A Sanford jury in 2013 acquitted Zimmerman, 32, of murder in the fatal 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Martin, a case that helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement and overshadowed both Apperson's prosecution and his defense.
See images of the controversial case:
George Zimmerman shooting 5/11 (Updated w/ shooter 5/19)
FILE - This Jan. 10, 2015 booking file photo provided by the Seminole County Public Affairs shows George Zimmerman. The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, that the former neighborhood watch volunteer will not face federal charges in the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was acquitted in 2013 of second-degree murder. (AP Photo/Seminole County Public Affairs, File)
Matthew Apperson, 35, makes his first appearance in Seminole County court at the John E. Polk correctional facility in Sanford, Fla., on Saturday May 16, 2015. Apperson was charged Friday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing a deadly missile into an occupied conveyance stemming from an incident involving George Zimmerman earlier in the week. (Joshua C. Cruey/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)
Matthew Apperson, who was involved in a shooting incident in Lake Mary, Fla., involving George Zimmerman, enters the Lake Mary Police Department just before his attorney Mark NeJame on May 11, 2015 in Lake Mary, Fla. The shooting was reported May 11, 2015 at Lake Mary Blvd. and Rhinehart Road. Zimmerman suffered minor facial injuries. Lake Mary Police Department Chief Steve Bracknell said the shooter in the incident today is believed to be Matthew Apperson of Winter Springs, a man Zimmerman had a road-rage incident with last year. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)
Vehicle believed to belong to George #Zimmerman hauled from shooting scene #fox35 http://t.co/EtJduC9hiA
George Zimmerman was involved in another shooting today. Had traffic blocked. #orlando #thefloridalife
A witness says the alleged shooter who is a white male complied with Lake Mary police and was taken away.#wesh http://t.co/SSoLfyzJME
.@LakeMaryPD Chief Steve Bracknell said Zimmerman is being released from a hospital in Sanford now. Zimmerman did not shoot in the incident
I just saw Zimmerman get shot in the face on Lake Mary Blvd!!!! Sort of...
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, file photo, George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. Prosecutors announced Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, that they will not file domestic violence charges against Zimmerman. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, arrives in court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, in Sanford, Fla., for his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
FILE - In this July 9, 2013 file photo, George Zimmerman leaves the courtroom for a lunch break his trial in Seminole Circuit Court, in Sanford, Fla. A Seminole County Sheriff's Office statement says Zimmerman was arrested Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, after deputies responded to a disturbance call at a house in Apopka, Fla. Zimmerman will be transported and booked into jail. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
In this Monday, July 1, 2013 photo, George Zimmerman enters the Seminole County Courthouse, in Sanford, Fla., during his trial on second degree murder for the killing of Trayvon Martin. Whether they think he got away with murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin or that he was just a brave neighborhood watch volunteer âstanding his ground,â many Americans canât seem to get enough of George Zimmerman. And he canât seem to stop giving it to them. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
In this Saturday, July 13, 2013. photo, George Zimmerman, center, speaks with his legal counsel, Mark O'Mara, right, and Don West during Zimmerman's second degree murder trial for the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. Whether they think he got away with murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin or that he was just a brave neighborhood watch volunteer âstanding his ground,â many Americans canât seem to get enough of George Zimmerman. And he canât seem to stop giving it to them. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool)
At left, American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist Harry Belafonte, Jr. listens as Dream Defenders Executive Director Phillip Agnew, right, raises his fist as he leads a chant calling for a special session Friday, July 26, 2013 in the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Dream Defenders were joined by Belafonte, Jr. as they went into their 11th day of a sit-in of Florida Gov. Rick Scott's office. The sit-in is their response to the ânot guiltyâ verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin. They are continuing to demand Scott call a special session. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
People walk in a community march for justice for Trayvon Martin, Monday, July 22, 2013 in Phoenix. Dozens of people participated in a protest march in Phoenix on Monday, calling for federal civil rights charges to be filed against Florida neighborhood watch activist George Zimmerman. A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Matt York)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 20: A woman holding a can of ice tea and bag of Skittles candy and hundreds of protesters take part in a 'Justice for Trayvon' vigil outside Los Angeles Federal Courthouse July 20, 2013 in Los Angeles, United States. The vigil, along with others held nationwide, was organized by the National Action Network and called for federal charges to be filed against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
People angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin protest outside City Hall in Los Angeles, California July 16, 2013. A jury in Sanford, Florida last week found Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman, not guilty of shooting dead Martin, a 17 year-old unarmed teen on the night of February 26, 2012. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
George Zimmerman during a court hearing Thursday April 12, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel, Pool)
George Zimmerman, left, looks up at his attorney Mark O'Mara in the courtroom, Friday, April 20, 2012, during a bond hearing in Sanford, Fla. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester says Zimmerman can be released on $150,000 bail as he awaits trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Martin. He claims self-defense. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool)
FILE - In this June 29, 2012 file photo, George Zimmerman, left, and attorney Don West appear before Circuit Judge Kenneth R. Lester, Jr. during a bond hearing at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman called police multiple times to report black men he thought were suspicious in his neighborhood in the months before he fatally shot an African-American teen, but both his ex-fiance and the lead detective investigating Trayvon Martinâs death didnât regard the ex-neighborhood watch leader as racist, according to documents and recordings released Thursday, July 12, 2012 by prosecutors. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
George Zimmerman, defendant in the killing of Trayvon Martin, is seen in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., for a pre-trial hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Zimmerman says he agrees with his attorneys' decision not to seek an immunity hearing under the state's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
Supporters wait for the arrival of Trayvon Martin's parents before a candlelight vigil in Union Square to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of the Florida teenager by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in Florida, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
George Zimmerman returns to court after a recess in Seminole circuit court during his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
George Zimmerman sits Seminole circuit court on the third day of his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Wednesday, June 12, 2013. Zimmerman is accused in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
George Zimmerman, right, answers questions from Judge Debra Nelson, with attorney Mark O'Mara, left, and jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn in Seminole circuit court during Zimmerman's trial in Sanford, Fla., Monday, June 17, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
George Zimmerman smiles in response to a juror's answer during questioning in Seminole circuit court on the eighth day of his trial, in Sanford, Fla., Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank/Pool)
A transcript from George Zimmerman's police call on the night of the Trayvon Martin shooting is projected on a screen in Seminole circuit court furing George Zimmerman's trial, Monday, June 24, 2013 in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank,Pool)
State exhibit photos, including this of George Zimmerman on the night of the Trayvon Martin shooting, are projected on a video screen in court during the 15th day of Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, June 28, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)
A man who identified himself as Ike wears a shirt portraying George Zimmerman in cross-hairs across the street from the Trayvon Martin memorial in the historically black Goldsboro neighborhood of Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FILE - In this July 20, 2014 file photo, Alvin Duplessis, 10, left, and Thomas McGriff, 5, foreground, hold signs with others from the Watson Memorial Teaching Ministries Church of New Orleans, at a rally in New Orleans held after the acquittal of George Zimmerman. The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network organized "Justice for Trayvon" rallies nationwide to press for federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who was found not guilty in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
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Police asserted in their arrest affidavit for Apperson that he seemed to have a fixation on Zimmerman, who claimed to have acted in self-defense when he shot Martin, a high school student walking through the community after stopping at a convenience store. Police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman, citing Florida's so-called "Stand Your Ground" law.
Apperson's lawyer in turn questioned Zimmerman on the witness stand, getting Zimmerman to acknowledge that he had sold the gun used to shoot Martin for $250,000 and considers Black Lives Matter activists to be "terrorists," according to the Orlando Sentinel.
In addition to second-degree attempted murder, Apperson was convicted on charges of shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm stemming from his altercation with Zimmerman in Lake Mary, Florida, according to the Sentinel.
Apperson has been in custody since July 2015, when Seminole County Circuit Judge Debra Nelson revoked his bond following a complaint that he urinated on his neighbor's porch.
In that incident, Apperson was found guilty of disorderly conduct at trial in October 2015, and sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for time served, according to court records.
(Reporting by Barbara Liston in Orlando; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bernard Orr)
