In the fifth day, (officially the 14th, including jury selection) of the George Zimmerman murder trial, jurors will continue to hear testimony from witnesses in order to piece together what really happened between Trayvon Martin and the man who shot him to death.
While we’ve heard from many witnesses, including a crime scene investigator, neighbors in the Twin Lakes neighborhood and the officer who was one of the first on the scene, none have been more engaging or arguably important to the trial as Rachel Jeantel.
Most of yesterday was spend cross-examining Jeantel, also known as Witness 8. She was the last person that Trayvon spoke with before he was shot dead.
To see what she had to say yesterday in court, click here.
Other witnesses, including Sanford police investigator Christopher Serino, the medical examiner who autopsied the Miami Gardens teen and Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, have not testified.
They may or may not testify today.
See below for the latest updates from the courtroom.
LATEST UPDATES FROM THE COURTROOM:
5:45 PM EST: Trial recesses for day.
3:50 PM EST: The next witness, Lindzee Folgate, takes the stand. She is a physician assistant at Altamonte Family Practice.
– Has been working at the practice since 2011
– Folgate treated Zimmerman the day after the shooting. Noted that he had two lacerations, 2cm and 0.5 cm. He didn’t need stitches for either.
– Also said of his bloody nose: “I would say likely broken, it’s hard to say definitively.”
– Mentioned that Zimmerman had started intenze mixed martial arts training three times a week. His body mass rated him obese, she said: 5-foot-7.5 and weighing 204 pounds.
– During cross examination, Folgate admitted that the bruises on Zimmerman COULD HAVE been caused by having his head slammed into the ground.
3:20 PM EST: Recess is over. Questioning continues for Officer Smith
– After Smith takes Zimmerman to the police station, he puts him in a room and the went to another room to watch Zimmerman through a one way mirror
– Smith said that Zimmerman’s clothes were wet on back and had grass on them.
2:40 PM EST: Officer Timothy Smith takes the stand. He is the husband of the crime scene investigator who testified earlier this week.
– Officer Smith was the first on the scene.
– He collected Zimmerman’s gun and put Zimmerman in police cruiser.
– Smith said Zimmerman told him he was lightheaded.
– Told jury that the back of Zimmerman’s pants and jacket were wetter than the front.
– Shown the gun that his wife, Diana Smith, processed and checked for DNA
– 15-min recess is called.
2:15 PM EST: The next witness, Stacy Livingston of the Sanford Fire Department. Firefighter and EMT, takes the stand.
– Took over assesing Trayvon Martin when they arrived. Checked his neck and found no pulse.
– Lifted his shirt and noticed. “Felt like a can.” Didn’t examine the can. Just trying to get to the patient.
1:57 PM EST: Sanford Officer Ricardo Ayala takes the stand. He was the officer who performed CPR on Trayvon Martin.
– Officer Ayala tells John Guy that he was not the first on the scene, Officer Smith was.
– Says the call was initially for a suspicious person, upgraded after shots fired.
1:00 PM EST: Jonathan Manalo takes the stand. His wife testified earlier in the week. He is a neighbor of Zimmerman’s.
– He went outside after hearing gunshot and found Zimmerman standing. Zimmerman said to him “I was defending myself and I shot him.”
– Manalo took photographs of Zimmerman’s bloody head, but not at Zimmerman’s request. Asked Zimmerman if he should call police, but he said he had just called them.
– Once officers arrived, Manalo gave them a shopping bag to help stop Trayvon’s bleeding.
– Manalo confirms that Zimmerman complies with officer handcuffing him. He tells Manalo to call his wife. While telling Shellie Zimmerman what is happening, Zimmerman cuts him off. “Just tell her I shot someone.”
– Says Zimmerman was calm and compliant throughout. Wasn’t in shock.
– He asked what caliber gun Zimmerman used and he replied “9mm.”
– During re-direct, Manalo confirms that he did not see the shooting actually happen
11:30 AM EST: Court recesses for lunch. Back at 1PM
9:28 AM EST: John Good, a neighbor from Twin Lakes, takes the stand. He has said in the past that the person on top during scuffle was in MMA-fighting style position.
– Heard a faint noise from his living room on night of shooting. After a while, noises got closer. He opened sliding door and saw figures, at first thought they were dogs fighting.
– He said the figures were “tussling.”
– The person on top was wearing dark clothes, Good said. The person on bottom had on white or red and had lighter skin.
– Asked by O’Mara if he believes that person was Trayvon. His response is “correct.” Says the person on top was throwing punches.
– During redirect, later tells BDLR that he isn’t absolutely sure that person throwing punches was landing them on bottom person. (Could have just been downward movement of arms).
– Good did say that the calls for help were coming from one person. Said the person on the bottom was the one making sounds.
– Later says he couldn’t be 100 percent sure who said help, but it was his opinion that it was Zimmerman.
– He describes the downward movement as MMA-style “ground and pound.” When asked by BDLR if he first used that term, he says he used it in initial statement. BDLR has him read statement, it doesn’t say “ground and pound,” just “on ground getting hit.”
– He describes fight to jury, says it moved to sidewalk. But he didn’t see person on top bash the person on bottom into the concrete. Zimmerman claims that Trayvon slammed his head into the concrete.
9:05 AM EST: First witness of the day, Greg McKinney, takes the stand. He works for the Tampa-based company U.S. Security Alliance, who provides video surveillance for the Twin Lakes Retreat area.
– McKinney says there are nine cameras at the retreat.
– McKinney visited Twin Lakes last night at state’s request to familiarize himself with location.
– Court plays video.
– There’s some debate about time on cameras.
9:00 AM EST: Court resumes
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WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:
– Don West cross-examined Rachel Jeantel for nearly five hours. See what she had to say, here.
– For a full recap of each trial day, see below:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Week 2, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Week 2, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14.
