10 things you need to know today: May 18, 2012

New evidence complicates the Trayvon Martin case, Facebook shares start trading, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

This Feb. 27 photo released by the Florida State Attorney's Office shows George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, with injuries to his nose. The photograph was among a trove of e
(Image credit: AP Photo/Florida State Attorney's Office)

1. NEW EVIDENCE IN TRAYVON MARTIN CASE A 'MIXED BAG'

On Thursday, prosecutors in the Trayvon Martin case released what the Associated Press called a "mixed bag" of evidence — hundreds of pages of eyewitness accounts and photos that both lend credence to and contradict George Zimmerman's claims that he shot Martin in self-defense. According to the files, the two men were in a heated and violent fight leading up to the shooting, and Zimmerman sustained injuries to his face and the back of his head. But the investigator who called for Zimmerman's arrest said that the altercation was "completely avoidable" and that nothing would have happened had Zimmerman remained in his car. An autopsy found trace amounts of THC, a key element in marijuana, in Martin's body. [Associated Press]

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