SANFORD, Fla. – A jury was selected on Monday in the trial of a man accused of trying to kill George Zimmerman.
Matthew Apperson was charged with second-degree attempted murder after prosecutors said he shot at Zimmerman last year during a confrontation on Lake Mary Boulevard in Seminole County. Zimmerman was not injured in the encounter.
Apperson told investigators that he fired the shot in self-defense after Zimmerman pointed a gun at him.
"He was threatened by the brandishing of a firearm by Mr. Zimmerman, and he had every right to survive and to protect himself and to act in self-defense," said Mark Nejame, Apperson's attorney.
Zimmerman denied that accusation when questioned by investigators. His attorney said Zimmerman was targeted because of a previous incident involving the two.
"George Zimmerman feels he was nearly killed. And it certainly looks like that's possible," attorney Don West said. "I think the bullet was found inside the passenger compartment of the driver's door."
Apperson was released from jail after posting bond, but it was revoked after he was charged in a separate case. Apperson was accused of urinating on his neighbor's front porch. A jury found him guilty of disorderly conduct in that case.
His trial begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.