He said he had advised Zimmerman to cooperate with new investigations into the incident, which were launched in the wake of protests that began in Florida and have spread as far away as New York.

He welcomed those investigations and said, "Let's look at the facts. The ultimate issue is that some kind of scuffle took place. The ultimate issue is 'was it self-defense?'"

Sonner said in a subsequent CNN interview that Zimmerman was in hiding after receiving death threats, adding that he himself had also received threats within hours of being identified as Zimmerman's legal adviser.

His comments came as Florida State Attorney Angela Corey -- appointed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott to lead a new investigation -- began gathering evidence in the case. A grand jury is scheduled to convene to probe the shooting on April 10, but Corey's staffers told WFTV on Friday that a grand jury may not be used in the case.