As testimony continues in the George Zimmerman murder trial, the defense comes closer to closing their case – and the jury comes closer to reaching a verdict.
Yesterday the court saw 10 witnesses, one who took the stand twice, who testified about their knowledge of Zimmerman’s past and also identified the screams heard on witness Jennifer Lauer’s 911 call.
In all, five witnesses, all friends of Zimmerman’s, identified the voice heard on the tape as his. Only Trayvon Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, identified the screams as his son’s.
While on stand, Martin also denied that he initially said the screams on the audio weren’t Trayvon’s. Lead investigator in the shooting, Chris Serino, testified before Martin that upon hearing the 911 tape the first time, the father said “no” under his breath when asked if he heard Trayvon’s voice.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest.
LATEST UPDATES FROM THE COURTROOM:
4:45PM EST: Court back in session for admissable hearing – Daniel Schumaker back on the stand for the cross by Mantei
-In order for Daniel Schumaker’s animation of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin’s fight to be used in court, it has to be based on trial testimony and evidence, only information that the jurors have heard in court.
-Mantei takes his time to prove that the animation is based on a 20-minute conversation Schumaker had with Dr. Vincent Di Maio, as well as witness testimony and 911 calls he heard via the defense team [which is NOT based solely on testimony the jury has heard.]
-At the request of Judge Nelson, the animation is shown on the projector screen as Schumaker testifies [so that it will be easier to follow along]
4:20PM EST: Jury is dismissed for the day, 10 minute recess
3:40PM EST: Jury enters the court room, defense calls next witness, Eloise Dilligard, former resident of The Retreat at Twin Lakes, who testifies via video chat.
-Mark O’Mara states Dilligard is the defense’s last witness
–Dilligard says she arrived in neighborhood night of the shooting, saw crime scene tape and George Zimmerman’s truck
-Dilligard says officer approached her, needed help identifying George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Was shown photos, ID’d Zimmerman
–Dilligard was present for verbal statements of other witnesses
-Said she knocked on Zimmerman’s door looking for his wife Shellie on night of incident
–BDLR uses brief cross examination to ask Dilligard again if she’d ever heard Trayvon Martin’s voice – she says no. She is excused.
3:35PM EST: Courtroom is back in session
3:10PM EST: Court takes 15 minute recess
3:00PM EST: Defense calls next witness, Norton Bonaparte, Sanford’s City Manager
-Bonaparte played 911 calls for Trayvon Martin’s family before they were released to the public, seemed like “decent thing” to do
-Both Bonaparte and the Mayor were present while some of the 911 calls were played
-Bonaparte only briefly on stand before being excused
1:35PM EST Jury enters the court room, Dr. Vincent Di Maio takes the stand again, Bernie De La Rionda represents the state for the cross-examination
-Bernie De La Rionda [BDLR] gets Di Maio to say that he would expect blood on someone’s hand if they touched Zimmerman’s bloodied face [and no blood or DNA was found on Trayvon’s hands or under his fingernails]
–Says biological evidence on Trayvon’s hands could’ve been harmed by rain, how the body was handled, etc.
-Says police should have taken GZ to the hospital and not the police station because of his head injuries
-Di Maio testifies that Zimmerman is right handed when asked by BDLR – Zimmerman is actually left handed
–Di Maio: GZ had obviously been punched in the nose, there was delayed bruising, concussions show up immediately
12:30 – 1:30PM EST Court is in recess for lunch
10:45AM EST: Don West calls defense’s second witness for the day, Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a private practice forensic pathologist
–Di Maio says most important evidence in this case is autopsy report, including photos of wounds and reports by firearms examiner
-He states “The clothing itself had to be 2 to 4 inches away from the body” when Trayvon was shot
-According to him, the gun was touching Trayvon’s shirt when he was shot, but his clothing was 2 to 4 inches from his chest
-Bullet went from Trayvon’s left-to-right [slightly] – entered through his left lung, went through heart to his right lung
-Trayvon could have been alive for 1-3 minutes at most after being shot, but was conscious for “significantly shorter”
-Di Maio certain Zimmerman had “6 identifiable injuries” on his head: 2 head lacerations, 2 temple wounds, 1 nose injury and 1 forehead wound.
10:40AM EST: Jury is finally brought into courtroom for the first time today.
9:00 AM EST: COURT RESUMES
-Defense calls their first witness, Daniel Schumaker, to testify in front of Judge Nelson [no jury in the room] – admissability hearing about an animation he made of the February 26 event
-Schumaker re-creates crime scene animations by going to crime scenes, measuring them, and then drawing them on a computer using the same technology used in making X-Men, Iron Man & Avatar
-He has never worked outside of California but for this case, visited the Sanford, Florida scene twice, took testimony from neighbors and listened to 911 calls to re-create the crime scene
-For some background on Daniel Schumaker, here is his LinkedIn account http://linkd.in/1akHvht
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WHAT YOU MISSED YESTERDAY:
– Tracy Martin took the stand as a witness of the defense. Watch his entire testimony, here.
– Five witnesses, all Zimmerman’s friends, identified the screams on the 911 call as his.
– Zimmerman’s MMA coach also took the stand. Adam Pollock told the jury that Zimmerman was unfit to fight, obese, and still unathletic at the time of the shooting.
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 3, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Week 4, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Week 5.
