George Zimmerman Trial: Trayvon Martin "viciously attacked" former neighborhood watch volunteer

CBS News ^ | 06/25/2013 | Erin Donaghue

[SeekAndFind]

In opening statements Monday, defense attorneys portrayed murder suspect George Zimmerman as a citizen looking out for his neighborhood when he was confronted and attacked by Trayvon Martin, a stark contrast to prosecutors' picture of a vigilante who profiled the Forida teen.

[freeangel]

“They should grieve. Judging by the results, they were p!ss-poor parents.

And they saw dollar signs in their futures when they thought a white guy would be hanged forthe trouble their son started.

[Sopater]

Does anyone else find it weird that a substantial charge like second degree murder is being tried by a jury of six?

It does seem weird, but I heard that 12-man juries are required for 1st degree murder cases. This case, being 2nd degree murder, only requires 6. Since he's facing a life sentence, you'd think he could get a 12-man jury, though.

[SeminoleCounty]

This witness....after the prosecutor claimed she did not want to testify....was proved by the defense to have done a 30 min interview with ABC reporter Matt Gutman before talking to authorities.

Case is over. The lynching of George Zimmerman must stop

[Wellington VII]

Did the defense present a knock knock joke today?

[JPG]

She made statements about seeing some things that were not made in any of her depositions. Very selective memory of what she said previously and to whom. Pro Trayvon bias by signing the petition makes her testimony suspect.

[Sopater]

Thanks for posting that.

[Toespi]

This witness at best gave “enhanced” testimony of her memory that night and at worst, flat out lied. To top it off, the defense shows the witness’s Facebook page showing a petition she signed, “justice for our son Trayvon, blah, blah, blah. So basically all a juror is left with is the implication of why she gave inconsistent testimony......bias and her determination to get jussis for Trayvon.

[Jeff Winston]

But how did any of her testimony seem to hurt Zimmmerman?

[Jeff Winston]

I missed the part where she gave testimony that was obviously damaging to GZ.

[DonaldC]

I’m sure the prosecution is going to spend a lot of time trying to confuse the jury with bovine excrement.

[JPG]

Nothing that I saw hurt Zimmerman. She, on the other hand, didn’t come off looking truthful and unbiased; the jury had to have noticed.

[swamprebel]

Does any one know if the last witness on today’s list is Nation of Islam?
The coy way she tried to introduce new evidence to try and foist the theory that she heard Zimmerman chasing St. Trayvon, certainly blew up on her. She was not honest several times from there, and in trying to save cred, she even implied she had told the direction to other investigators, and they simply did not transcribe it. A provable lie if the interviews were recorded as I bet they were. Then when the State tried to explain away the fact that she did nor come forward for a month, because she did not want to be on the national stage, yet the defense reminded her she gave an interview to Matt Gutman, further damaged her cred. One question though, did she sign the justice for trayvon petition before she came forward? Same question about when She “liked” the Trayvon.org Facebook page?

[xzins]

I understand her testimony was important to the prosecution because it places Zimmerman farther into the neighborhood than everyone thought. They are working the “pursued Martin” angle.

The problem is that she came off so unbelievable.

First, how would she know that would help the prosecution?

Second, she said she “couldn’t see” and “couldn’t make out” but then described flailing arms and body on the ground.

Then she said she didn’t sign a petition that she clearly had signed.

I felt she was impeached, and that the defense left the impression that her testimony was either her or someone trying to pull a fast one at the last minute. And her obvious bias in signing a “justice for murdered Trayvon” petition certainly means she is biased.

[reefdiver]

Don’t know why we spend so much time on this.
This is a Democrat on Democrat crime
Neither of these guys would give a Conservative Republican a cup of water on a hot day on Election Day.

[Ronald_Magnus]

Can’t wait for the defense’s witness “John” to testify. He clearly says he saw TM on top of GZ and beating the heck out of him. He also says it was GZ that was crying out.

“Witness Says Trayvon Was On Top of Zimmerman Beating Him”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w47eL_jTieI

[rawcatslyentist]

Look at this.. Shot in the back running away. Self defense no charges filed.

Customer shoots, kills robber outside Atlanta shop while waiting to buy LeBron James sneakers :32sec

When is the cibull rights march with Red Cross catering by Awful Dull's wife? Where is stinky fingers Al fecaphilliac Shartounge? Jessie Jackass is too busy shakin down whitey to care about the peeps.

[bobby.223]

Thanks for putting that up. Sounds like this savage beat on Zimmy for quite a while, (42 seconds?), and Zimmy went to his handgun only when it became exposed and it was trying to be unholstered by the thug and then when he was told he was gonna “die tonight” by the little bastard. I have never thought Zimmy was gonna be convicted of anything, once the evidence was put forth, (unless he was stuck with an ‘O.J. Jury’), and I still see him leaving this show trial for ‘Holder’s People’ a 100% free man as he should leave it. Hang in there George!!!

[P-Marlowe]

Her testimony was so bad it was amazing. It was obvious that she was coached by the prosecution and prodded by the Martin Family. She tried to hide her bias, but O’Mara made her look like a liar, which she was.

She tried to make it seem like the screams that were heard on the 911 call were not as bad as they sounded. She also changed her testimony on what she saw or didn’t see.

This was a great example of effective cross examination. The prosecution didn’t really need her as a witness so I am rather shocked that she was called. I think she was called to give a “black face” to the eyewitness testimony, but since she didn’t see anything and apparently didn’t hear anything, her testimony did nothing more than to show that prosecution is grasping at straws.

So far the prosecution has only been able to show that Travon Martin is dead and that George Zimmerman got the crap kicked out of him before he got off a shot.

At this point they haven’t even established that Martin fired the shot. They have his confession, but I think they may try to keep it out in hopes of forcing Martin to take the stand. If that is their plan, then if this were a real trial instead of a show trial, the judge would be duty bound to dismiss the case for lack of evidence. But that is not going to happen in this trial because the judge lacks the courage to toss out the charges and the prosecution lacks the courage to admit they have no case.

[VerySadAmerican]

Good point. And “Driving Miss Paula” Deen got some fleas from the dogs she was hangin’ out with.

[xzins]

She tried to make it seem like the screams that were heard on the 911 call were not as bad as they sounded.

I agree. That was really odd. She said they sounded like "uhhh" or "ohh", but then went along with the defense that they were screams. Ever try to scream the word "uhhh"? She said she couldn't see but could hear. She "heard" movement from left to right. But then she started talking about "seeing" and "making out" certain things like arms flailing and bodies on the ground. If I were an average, reasonably intelligent juror I would have found her testimony questionable, and then when the defense lawyer did the signed petition coup de grace right at the end of the day, that would have confirmed to me that this was a tainted witness.