Court of public opinion looms large in George Zimmerman murder trial

George Zimmerman Witness Can't Say Who Threw First Punch

A woman who was talking on the phone to Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman acknowledged on the stand today that she does not know whether Zimmerman or Martin started the fatal fight.

The testimony of Rachel Jeantel, 19, was dissected over two days of often testy cross examination by Zimmerman's lawyers in which she was challenged on her assertion that she heard Martin say "get off" just before he was shot.

Zimmerman, 29, is on trial for second degree murder in Martin's death on Feb. 26, 2012. Martin, 17, was unarmed, but Zimmerman mantains he shot the teenager in self defense.

Jeantel, a key prosecution witness in the racially charged trial, testified that she was talking on the phone with Martin when he told her a "creepy ass cracker" was following him. She told defense lawyer Don West that "cracker" is how she referred to white people in her community.

She had testified that she "could hear" Martin say "get off" to Zimmerman, although West said that during a taped interview with the prosecutor before the trial she had said that she "couldn't hear." West suggested that prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda coached her to say she could hear Martin.

Jeantel, 19, put her hands on her head as she listened in court today to the audio of her interview with de la Rionda, but what she said on the tape was not 100 percent clear. After the tape played Jeantel insisted that she said she could hear Martin, but that prosecutor de la Rionda did not understand her.

However, West got Jeantel to acknowledge under oath that she didn't know if Zimmerman or Martin started the fight the night the teen died.

Timeline of George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin Case

"The last thing you heard was something hitting somebody?" West asked her.

"Trayvon got hit," Jeantel said.

"You don't know that, do you?" the defense lawyer said.

"No sir," she said.

"You don't know that he didn't take his fist and drive it into Zimmerman's face do you?" the lawyer pressed.

"No sir," Jeantel replied.

The combative exchange was part of her nearly seven hours of testimony over two days. She started the day appearing subdued. Her demeanor was so different from the hostile tone she had towards Zimmerman's lawyer on Wednesday that West asked Jeantel, "You seem so different from yesterday. I'm just checking, did someone talk to last night about your demeanor in court?"

In a painfully embarrassing moment, Jeantel was forced to admit that she did not write a letter that was sent to Martin's mother describing what she allegedly heard on a phone call with Martin moments before he was shot. It came when West asked her to read the letter aloud in court.

"Are you able to read that at all?" West asked.

Jeantel, head bowed, eyes averted whispered into the court microphone, "Some but not all. I don't read cursive."

It sent a hush through the packed courtroom.

She was unable to read any of the letter save for her name, date and the words "thank you."

Jeantel said that she dictated the letter to someone who wrote it for her. West then proceeded to grill Jeantel over why she wasn't specific with Martin's mother about some of the things she heard over the phone, suggesting that her version of what she heard on the phone that night was not complete.

The testimony was an attempt to raise questions about veracity of Jeantel's testimony, who is a key prosecution witness in the racially charged case.

Take an interactive look at the timeline of events surrounding Trayvon Martin's death and George Zimmerman's trial.

Rachel Jeantel was the last person to speak on the phone with Martin moments before he was shot to death by Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012.

During cross examination today, Jeantel also testified that when she was interviewed under oath on April 2 by prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda she was sitting next to Trayvon Martin's mother and that influenced what she told the prosecutor.

"You certainly didn't want to say anything that you thought would hurt her feelings or make her grieve even worse," asked West.

"Yes sir," she responded.

"So because of that you were sensitive to (Martin's mother) Mrs. Fulton's feelings when you answered Mr. De la Rionda questions."

"Yes sir," she replied.

"And that's why you cleaned up some of the language that Trayvon Martin used?" West asked.

"Yes sir," she responded.

During nearly two hours of cross examination Wednesday in which he tried to raise questions about her version of events and accused her of telling several lies under oath, including about her whereabouts during Martin's wake.

"Under oath, you created a lie and said you went to the hospital?" asked West.

"Yes," responded Jeantel. She said she lied because she didn't want to see the body.

Jeantel became increasingly agitated and scoffed when West told her that she would have to continue testifying.

She is seen as a critical witness to the prosecution because she is the only person able to say that Martin claimed that he noticed a strange man following him and that he was scared. Jeantel said Martin described the stranger as a "creepy ass cracker."

Jeantel said Martin, 17, was walking home during halftime of the NBA All-Star Game when he became unnerved because he was being followed.

"He told me the man kept following him," Jeantel said.

Jeantel said she told Martin to run, but that he responded that he was almost home.

"I say, 'Trayvon,' and then he said, 'Why are you following me for?'" Jeantel testified. "And then I heard a hard-breathing man come say, 'What you doing around here?' ... And then I was calling, 'Trayvon, Trayvon.' And then I started to hear a little bit of Trayvon saying, 'Get off, get off.'"

At times during her early testimony with the prosecution, Jeantel dabbed away tears.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Don West tried to dig into the chain of events preceding Martin's death. West asked why Jeantel didn't call law enforcement after the phone died.

"I thought he was going to be OK because he was right by his daddy's house, but his daddy was not home," Jeantel said as Martin's father cried in court.

Tracey Martin eventually reached out to Jeantel after looking at his son's phone log, Jeantel said. She added that she expected law enforcement to reach out to her, but none did, apparently, until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement contacted her much later.

Zimmerman, said he was defending himself from Martin after the unarmed teenager allegedly confronted him, knocked him down and banged his head of the sidewalk. Prosecutors allege that the former neighborhood watch captain profiled and followed the teenager before killing him.

Page 2: George Zimmerman Witness Can't Say Who Threw First Punch - ABC News
 
GZ said TM came out of no where and attacked him. GZ got of his car and the cops told GZ to not follow the kid . I would loves to hear why GZ got out of the safety of his car and did not follow the cops orders not to follow the kid. There had to be only one reason GZ got out of his car and that was
to follow TM on foot. As soon as GZ got out his car that made him the
aggressive person and his lawyer is trying to break down the TM friend to show GZ was not the aggressive person .
I hope to HELL the jury is smart enough to find GZ guilty.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
GZ said TM came out of no where and attacked him. GZ got of his car and the cops told GZ to not follow the kid . I would loves to hear why GZ got out of the safety of his car and did not follow the cops orders not to follow the kid. There had to be only one reason GZ got out of his car and that was
to follow TM on foot. As soon as GZ got out his car that made him the
aggressive person and his lawyer is trying to break down the TM friend to show GZ was not the aggressive person .
I hope to HELL the jury is smart enough to find GZ guilty.
Click to expand...
The 911 dispatcher told him that he didn't need to do that after asking if he was following him. It doesn't mean that he should stay in the car. It meant that he "should" (not "must") stop following him but he could get out of the car whenever he wanted. He was not advised to stay in the car. Hello?
 
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CrazyPaul said:
You want me to tell his story? Lazy to read the news? Come on
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what's the matter? ah yes... it's because you're afraid that you're wrong :lol:
 
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Latest update

A prosecution witness testified Friday in the George Zimmerman trial that he saw the former neighborhood watch captain and Trayvon Martin engaged in a mixed martial arts-style fight the night Martin was fatally shot.

Jonathan Good said he heard a faint noise coming from the back of his home in the Retreat at Twin Lakes on February 26, 2012. When he heard a louder noise, he went outside to investigate. He saw two men engaged in a "tussle" on the ground.

"It looked like a tussle. I could really only see one person, and I think I described it as possibly being some kind of dog attack, because there are a lot of dogs that walk in that back area. I could only see an object," said Good.

Good is the 17th witness called to the stand in the trial of Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Martin in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman told police he followed the teenager because there had been some recent break-ins in the area. During the confrontation, Zimmerman claims he was forced to kill the 17-year-old in self-defense.

On the trial’s fifth day, Good recounted being 15 to 20 feet away from the fight between Zimmerman and Martin. Although hecouldn’t make out the faces of the individuals on the ground, Good said he could make out the color of their clothes. In crucial testimony that buttresses the defense’s argument, Good said the person on top of the fight was wearing a black top like the black hoodie sweatshirt Martin was wearing that night, and the person on the bottom was wearing red. Zimmerman was wearing a similar color that night.

Good said it seemed like the person on the bottom was yelling for help. Good said he saw the person on top “straddling”the person on the bottom, and the person on top was moving their hands in a downward striking motion that looked like what he called a "ground and pound," a term associated with MMA or mixed-martial arts fighting.

"It looked like that position was a ground-and-pound type position, but I couldn't tell 100% that there were actually fists hitting faces," said Good.

Defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked Good to define the term "ground and pound."

"It's usually when someone is on top in a mounted position, I believe, in the dominant position, but like I said the person on the bottom is able to throw punches back, but I did not see any of that," said Good.

Good said he went outside and called out to Zimmerman and Martin to "cut it out," but after getting no response he went back inside and called 911 – that’s when he heard the gunshot.

"I just heard a shot right behind my house," Good said on the 911 call, which was played in the courtroom. "They are wrestling right in the back of my porch."

The operator asked, "You just heard one shot go off?"

"It was either that or a rock that hit the window," said Good.

Earlier Friday, prosecutors called Greg McKinney to the stand to testify about images caught on the neighborhood’s CCTV --closed-circuit security TV surveillance system -- the night of the shooting. McKinney works for the company that monitors the neighborhood’s CCTV system.

The cameras were recording images from the interior of the neighborhood's clubhouse. One image shows a shadow passing by one of the windows, and another image taken from another camera shows a light flash through one of the windows. The timestamps, even though they were a few minutes off, may help confirm the timeline of the shooting.

HLN is live-blogging Zimmerman's trial. Click here for HLN's live blog of Thursday's testimony. Read below for minute-by-minute updates:

2:11 p.m. ET: Zimmerman was compliant, according to Ayala, and he didn't disobey in any form. O'Mara has finished his direct-examination. The witness has been excused.

2:08 p.m. ET: Ayala says he arrived so quickly on scene that the other officer still had Zimmerman at gunpoint. He says this is protocol if shots have been fired.

2:06 p.m. ET: Prosecutor Guy has concluded his direct examination. Now defense attorney O'Mara has started his direct-examination.

2:05 p.m. ET: "At any time, did you see any signs of life from Trayvon Martin’s body?" asked prosecutor John Guy.

"No, sir," said Ayala.

He was performing chest compressions. Eventually he says emergency personal arrived and pronounced Martin dead on the scene.

2:04 p.m. ET: Ayala worked with another officer to roll Martin's body over.

"Underneath -- he had a pin or button -- it was underneath the button," said Ayala in regards to the gunshot wound.

Ayala and another officer started CPR on Martin.

2:02 p.m. ET: Ayala says he was the first officer to approach Martin, who was face-down with his hand beneath him.

"I asked to see his hands," said Ayala. Martin didn't respond physically or verbally to his commands. He didn't see any movement or hear any sounds from the body.

1:59 p.m. ET: The prosecution has called Ricardo Ayala, a police officer with the Sanford Police Department, to the witness stand. He responded to the shooting that night. He demonstrates on a map where he entered the neighborhood and where he parked.

1:55 p.m. ET: The defense has no more questions and Manalo is being excused.

1:54 p.m. ET: Manalo says he didn't see the actual shooting take place and can't say if it's self-defense. The prosecutor has finished his re-direct examination.

1:53 p.m. ET: The prosecutor again asks about Zimmerman's demeanor.

"Coherent, compliant – he wasn’t… he was calm. He was staggering a little bit," said Manalo.

1:52 p.m. ET: Defense attorney West has wrapped his cross-examination. Prosecutor de la Rionda is now asking more questions.

1:49 p.m. ET: A flashlight next to Martin's body caught Manalo's eye so he took a photo of that as well, which is being displayed again in court. Manalo describes where he was standing when he took the photos.

1:46 p.m. ET: Defense attorney West pulls up the photo Manalo took of Martin's body. Manalo says the body position is how he saw it when he arrived -- Martin face-down on the ground. He says he used a flashlight to illuminate the scene.

1:43 p.m. ET: Manalo says the neighborhood watch signs were a reminder for neighbors to work together and call 911 if they saw anything. He didn't view them as a warning to outsiders coming in to the neighborhood.

1:40 p.m. ET: Manalo says Zimmerman wasn't hyperactive or subdued, extremes he would associate with someone being in shock. He agrees that Zimmerman was flat, direct.

1:39 p.m. ET: West is asking if Zimmerman seemed to be abrupt, telling him to tell his wife that he wasn't shot but he had shot someone else. Manalo agrees.

1:37 p.m. ET: Manalo says Zimmerman told police he was the shooter and he also immediately complied with the officer who wanted to take his gun.

1:35 p.m. ET: West asks Manalo if Zimmerman told him, “This guy was beating me up and I shot him.”

“I was defending myself and I shot him,” added Manalo.

Zimmerman never asked him to take a photo of his head. Manalo says he decided to do it himself.

1:34 p.m. ET: Manalo says Zimmerman asked if he was bleeding. He saw Zimmerman squat down.

"He was breathing hard, he looked like he had just gotten his butt beat," said West.

"Yes," said Manalo.

1:30 p.m. ET: Defense attorney West has started his cross-examination. Manalo says he didn't see what happened before the shot. He describes how he left his house -- walking carefully, not running.

1:27 p.m. ET: "He wasn’t acting like anything different. He was coherent, he was responding to my questions just like any other person," said Manalo. He also says Zimmerman never looked back at Martin’s body and he appeared calm.

Prosecutor de la Rionda has finished his direct examination.

1:26 p.m. ET: When Manalo connected with Zimmerman's wife and started telling her what happened, he says Zimmerman cut him off, saying, "Just tell her I shot someone."

Theproseuctor asks Manalo about Zimmerman's demenanor. He describes it, "Like I was taking too long to say what I had to say."

1:23 pm.. ET: An officer on scene told Martin he was going to put Zimmerman in handcuffs, according to Manalo. THe officer also asked Zimmerman if he had a gun and he said yes and lifted his arm, showing him the gun, which was in his waistband holster.

Zimmerman asked Manalo to call his wife, which he did on his own phone. He says he put Zimmerman's phone back in his pocket.

1:20 p.m. ET: The flashlight wasn't turned on, according to Manalo and Martin wasn't moving. The prosecutor asks him what he said to Zimmerman.

"I asked him, 'Do I need to call 911?' He says, 'No, I just got off the phone with them,'" said Manalo.

1:17 p.m. ET: Zimmerman was squatting when Manalo took the picture of the back of his head. This happened before police arrived. Manalo says Martin's hands were beneath his body when he snapped the picture and he didn't tamper with the body. Manalo also took a photo of a flashlight on the scene.

1:15 p.m. ET: Manalo says he was the first one to come into contact with Zimmerman after the shooting -- police arrived later.

1:13 p.m. ET: Prosecutor de la Rionda points out on a map and in photos where Manalo met up with Zimmerman that night.

1:11 p.m. ET: Manalo says he used a flashlight to illuminate the scene. He took a photo of Zimmerman and Martin's body on the ground.

1:10 p.m. ET: Manalo says he left through his garage with a flashlight. He saw a man, which he can now identify as Zimmerman. Zimmerman had a cell phone up to his ear and he could see blood on Zimmerman's nose and the back of his head.

1:07 p.m. ET: The prosecution has called Jonathan Manalo to the witness stand. His wife, Jeannee, testified earlier in the trial. The couple lived in Zimmerman's neighborhood the night Martin was shot. He heard a noise that night while building a coffee table with his daughter.

"It sounded like grunts. We thought at first it was a couple of dogs barking," said Manalo. "They were loud enough that I could hear it through the window."

1:02 p.m. ET: The jury is being seated.

12:59 p.m. ET: The judge is back on the bench. The attorneys are at a sidebar.

11:29 a.m. ET: Judge Debra Nelson has recessed court for lunch. The live blog will pick back up when testimony resumes at 1:00 p.m. ET.

11:28 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked, "Do you stand by that today and what you saw was a ground and pound event?"

"It looked like that position was a ground and pound type position, but I couldn't tell 100% that there was actually fists hitting faces," said Good.

11:23 a.m. ET: Good said no matter what statement he gave police he has always said the person wearing red (Zimmerman was wearing a similar color) was on the bottom.

11:22 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked Good if his story has changed slightly does it mean he lied. Good said no it doesn't mean he lied.

11:20 a.m. ET: Good gave four to five statements to police about what happened the night of the shooting.

11:15 a.m. ET: The attorneys are at a sidebar with the judge.

11:14 a.m. ET: O'Mara is now asking Good questions.

11:12 a.m. ET: De La Rionda showed Good a picture of Martin's body lieing face down. Good confirmed that the picture represents how saw the body that night.

11:09 a.m. ET: Good said based on common sense it seems that the person on the bottom was trying to get up.

11:06 a.m. ET: De La Rionda got Good to admit that the officer on the scene may have used the term "ground and pound" the night of the shooting.

11:03 a.m. ET: Good said he used the term "ground and pound" in his first statement to police, and in later statements and depositions "clarified" the term to give a better visual.

11:00 a.m. ET: De La Rionda is making the point that Good did not hear any smacking noises that may have sounded like punches. He made several smacking noises with his hands to demonstrate his argument.

10:58 a.m. ET: O'Mara has finished his questioning of Good, and now prosecutor De La Rionda is asking him questions.

10:55 a.m. ET: O'Mara is reviewing his materials.

10:53 a.m. ET: Good said when he was on the phone with 911 he went upstairs and looked out a window and saw the body.

10:51 a.m. ET: O'Mara is having Good explain a picture he drew of what he saw the night of the shooting. It is possible to make out on the drawing where he saw Martin, the black shirt, on top.

10:47 a.m. ET: O'Mara is showing Good pictures of the clothing both individuals were wearing that night. Based on the colors Good saw that night Martin may have been on top of Zimmerman at some point during the altercation.

10:43 a.m. ET: O'Mara is reviewing his materials.

10:40 a.m. ET: Good gave his first statement to police the night of the shooting, and he mentioned to the police that he thought he saw a MMA "ground and pound." Good said yes he did say those words that night.

10:37 a.m. ET: "I couldn't see anyone when I first went out there," said Good.

10:35 a.m. ET: Good said he did not see a gun during the altercation.

10:32 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked Good again who he thought was screaming, and he reiterated that he thought it was the person on the bottom.

10:31 a.m. ET: Good said he was inside his townhome dialing 911 when he heard the gunshot.

10:28 a.m. ET: O'Mara is playing the 911 call where screams can be heard on it for Good.

10:25 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked Good if he saw Martin slamming Zimmerman's head on the ground. Good said he did not see Zimmerman's head hitting the concrete.

10:22 a.m. ET: Good said he thought the person on the bottom was yelling for help.

10:20 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked Good to define "ground and pound."

"It's usually when someone is on top in a mounted position I believe. In the dominant position, but like I said the person on the bottum is able to throw punches, back, but I did not see any of that," said Good.

10:17 a.m. ET: O'Mara asked Good if the person on top in Mixed Martial Arts stance. Good said at first he thought it was what he calls a "ground and pound."

10:14 a.m. ET: O'Mara got down on the ground and demonstrated how the person on top looked to Good.

10:11 a.m. ET: Good is explaining to O'Mara how the two individuals were on the ground wrestling on the ground about 15 to 20 feet away from his townhome.

10:08 a.m. ET: O'Mara is starting over the beginning asking Good about the first noise her heard that night.

10:06 a.m. ET: Good said he heard someone yell "help, help." De La Rionda has finished his questions for Good. O'Mara has asked for a couple minutes to review his exhibits.

10:04 a.m. ET: De La Rionda showed Good a map of the neighborhood to show the jurors where Good saw the two individuals wrestling on the ground.

10:01 a.m. ET: Good said he heard the gunshot after he went back inside. He heard the gunshot as he was dialing 911.

9:59 a.m. ET: De La Rionda is showing Good pictures of his neighoborhood to help orient the jurors to his point of view the night of the shooting.

9:54 a.m. ET: Good said when he walked out of his townhome he could not see the hands of the person on the bottom. Prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda is about to play Good's 911 call from that night.

"I just heard a shot right behind my house." said Good on the 911 call. "They are wrestling right in the back of my porch."

The operator asked, "You just heard one shot go off?"

"It was either that or a rock that hit the window," said Good.

9:50 a.m. ET: At some point, Good told the individuals struggling on the ground to "cut it out."

9:49 a.m. ET: Good said it was possible the person on top may have trying to hold the person on the bottom down.

9:47 a.m. ET: "I think at that time is when I thought it was serious." said Good. "Because it looked like strikes were being thrown or punches being thrown. But as I clarified due to the lighting it could of also been holding down. But there were arm movement going downward," said Good.

9:44 a.m. ET: Good said he only saw a "few" seconds of the altercation.

9:42 a.m. ET: At some point, he could tell there were two people on the ground. He could only see the color of the clothing the men were wearing. Good said he saw the person wearing dark clothes on top, and the person on the bottom was wearing red and white. He also saw the men's positions change.

9:39 a.m. ET: "It looked like a tussle. I could really only see one person, and I think I described as possibly being some kind of dog attack, because there are a lot dogs that walk in that back area. I could only see an object," said Good.

9:37 a.m. ET: Good's wife told him to not go outside, but he decided to outside anyway.

9:35 a.m. ET: A few moments later Good heard the same noise, but it was louder. So he decided to go to the sliding glass door to look outside

9:33 a.m. ET: Good was watching TV with his wife when he heard a "faint" noise outside.

"I didn't think anything of it," said Good.

9:31 a.m. ET: The back of Good's townhome faces the courtyard where the shooting took place.

9:29 a.m. ET: Jonathan Good was a resident of the Retreat at Twin Lakes the night of the shooting.

9:28 a.m. ET: McKinney has been excused, and prosecutors have now called John Good to the stand.

9:27 a.m. ET: Prosecutor Mantei has finished his direct examination of McKinney. O'Mara is now cross-examining him about the video that was shot on the CCTV system. O'Mara wants to know why the timing mechanism malfunctioned on the CCTV system. McKinney said it happens, because the clocks "drift." The video time stamps off by about 18 minutes according to McKinney.

9:24 a.m. ET: The next video Mantei played taken from interior of the east pool hall. A light briefly appears in the area where the mailboxes are located.

9:20 a.m. ET: McKinney is explaining where all the CCTV's cameras are installed in Zimmerman's neighborhood. The video about to be played is from the interior of the clubhouse the night of the shooting. The video showed something passing by the window.

9:18 a.m. ET: Prosecutor Rich Mantei is about to play a video taken from the CCTV system at Zimmerman's neighborhood.

9:15 a.m. ET: The attorneys are discussing something at the podium.

9:10 a.m. ET: Prosecutors have called Greg McKinney as their next witness. McKinney works in the IT department for U.S. Security Alliance a company that works with closed-circuit camera systems. McKinney's company installed the CCTV system in Zimmerman's neighborhood, and he monitors video surveillance cameras remotely. He said the cameras on the front gate of the Retreat at Twin Lakes were not working the night Martin was shot. The attorneys are now at a sidebar with the judge.

9:06 a.m ET: The jury is being seated.

9:01 a.m. ET: The judge is on the bench, and the attorneys have joined her for a sidebar.

8:59 a.m. ET: Zimmerman is in the courtroom waiting for testimony to begin.

8:35 a.m. ET: Court is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. ET.

8:30 a.m. ET: Some questions with answers that could determine George Zimmerman's guilt or innocence remain unanswered after four days of testimony from prosecution witnesses.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, is charged with second-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. Zimmerman told police he was pursuing the teenager because there had been a rash of crime in the area. A confrontation ensued, and Zimmerman said he was forced to kill Martin in self-defense.

Despite telling different people inconsistent stories of what she heard while on the phone with Martin the night he was killed, the prosecution's star witness Rachel Jeantel stuck to her guns on two issues in her testimony Thursday: that Zimmerman followed Martin that night, and that Martin tried to run away from him.

Jeantel's testimony, however, fell short of providing a complete picture of that fateful night. She could not explain who started the altercation, what happened during the fight, or who was on top as the men struggled on the ground.

Neighbors who witnessed moments of what happened that night have also been unable to answer those questions definitively.

Selma Mora testified Thursday that she walked out her back door after hearing a gunshot, which she first thought was a skateboard smacking the pavement.

Mora had similar difficulty seeing what was happening in the courtyard behind her house as other neighbors who have testified.

The rain and darkness made it difficult for eyewitnesses to see exactly what was happening between Martin and Zimmerman.

"One of them was on the ground and the other one was on top in a position like a rider," said Mora, who testified with the help of a court translator.

"Like riding a horse?" asked prosecutor John Guy.

"Yes," said Mora.

"With one leg on either side?" asked Guy.

"Yes," said Mora.

Mora said she asked the pair, "What's going on?" three times before the one on top told her to call police. She said he then got up and paced back and forth between the body and some trash cans, with one hand on his waist and the other on his head.

Mora was never able to identify the man on top or the man on bottom.

"Like I said from the beginning," she said, "it was so dark that what little light there was would not allow you to determine the details."
Click to expand...

Witness: Zimmerman, Martin in MMA-style fight | HLNtv.com
 
I sure hope the prosecution has more than they are showing. Right now this doesn't even appear to rise to the level of a crime....much less murder. If I were the defense I might not even present a witness.
 
And yes...my opinion has changed over the last 2-3 days of testimony.
 
TXgolfer said:
I have no idea what a jury will find. If I were on the jury and the trial stopped now.....I would vote not guilty.
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Same here...from what I've read and especially after that teen girls testimony...I'd vote not guilty...but much more to come....
 
TXgolfer said:
I have no idea what a jury will find. If I were on the jury and the trial stopped now.....I would vote not guilty.
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oh I thought that was your opinion since the beginning.

but yea - these witnesses... *smh*
 
Jury only have two - Guilty or Not Guilty? or more choice to say like mistrial?
 
Jiro said:
oh I thought that was your opinion since the beginning.

but yea - these witnesses... *smh*
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I thought the opening statements were won decisively by the prosecution.... But yes these witnesses are hurting the prosecution. That last police officer sounded more like a defense witness.
 
Foxrac said:
Oh wow, I don't think that I want to serve jury in Zimmerman's case.
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Well, remember that "not guilty" does not equal innocent. When a juror says "not guilty" they are simply saying that there isn't enough proof to say guilty. If you were a juror and were unsure if GZ was guilty or not, then your answer is "not guilty"
 
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