The following is a LIVE, ongoing rundown of the day's testimony in the George Zimmerman trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
The most recent updates from the courtroom Friday are on top.
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6:06 p.m.
Judge Nelson recesses for the evening. Court will resume at 9 a.m.
Jury request
6:05 p.m.
Judge Nelson tells them they will adjourn for the night. She tells them deliberations will only happen in the courtroom. She gives them the same instructions for avoiding reports and researching the case. Their notes will be locked up overnight. They will recess until 9 a.m.
The jury is dismissed for the evening.
6:03 p.m.
Judge Nelson asks for the jury to be brought in.
6:02 p.m.
The jury would like to adjourn tonight and resume at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Jury asks a question
5:05 p.m.
The attorneys look over the exhibit list. It is acceptable for the state and defense. The copies will be given to the jurors.
4:41 p.m.
The jurors ask for an inventory list of evidence.
Jury instructions
2:30 p.m.
Judge Nelson says Jurors E54, E13 and E28 have not gone back with the rest of the jurors. All of the evidence except the bullets are available for them.
Court is in recess.
2:28 p.m.
Judge Nelson tells them to follow the deputy to the jury room.
2:05 p.m.
Judge Nelson checks with the jurors about avoiding reports about the case and researching it. She asks them to pay attention to the instructions she is about to give - Read the jury instructions packet here.
2:02 p.m.
The prosecution and defense are back, waiting for the jury to be brought in.
Defense's closing arguments and prosecution's response
12:53 p.m.
Judge Nelson tells the jurors she will instruct them about the law of the case.
Guy resumes by telling them they should listen to the court.
He says the defense brought up in their summation and in trial – race.
The case is not about race, he says, but right and wrong.
He says they should ask themselves if the roles were reversed with 28-year-old Zimmerman walking home in a hoodie and 17-year-old in a car called the police with hate in his heart, and if it was Martin who shot and killed Zimmerman what the verdict would be.
“To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe the truth.”
Guy shows the jury a photo of Martin’s body.
He says the self-serving statements and lies and hate in Zimmerman’s heart, physical evidence are the truth.
He thanks them for their time.
Judge Nelson says she will read the instructions by their choice.
They choose after lunch.
The jury is dismissed until 2 p.m.
She asks counsel to approach for a moment.
12:48 p.m.
Guy says the only evidence Root had was from the defendant and his opinion was based on that.
He says the defendant gave so many statements to justify his actions and kept increasing and when it got to Hannity it was “God’s plan.”
Guy points out the wound was a contact wound with the shirt, asking if Zimmerman pushed the gun against his chest.
He says reasonable doubt needs to go to an element of the crime.
O’Mara asks to approach the bench.
12:45 p.m.
Guy says Zimmerman changed what Martin said to him and about him reaching for the gun.
He says Zimmerman changed where he put his car and about getting the cell phone out.
He shows a slide from the neighborhood watch training about not being the “vigilante police.”
He shows a portion of the coordinator book.
Guy asks them to think about the term “a responsible gun owner.”
He asks about what Zimmerman did after the gunshot.
“The bottom line is who is responsible for Trayvon Martin lying on that ground?” Guy asks.
He asks who is responsible for the state not being able to pull Martin there to talk.
He says Martin is not and will never be a piece of cardboard.
He says the “living” quote again.
He says it’s not like TV where all the witnesses are well-dressed and educated. He says there are no Rachel Jeantel’s on CSI.
He says in real life they get everything from the good, bad and indifferent.
He tells them to remember that if they don’t like some of the witnesses or some of the evidence, they should ask them self who produced the trial.
“It was the defendant. He chose everything and that’s why we’re here,” Guy says.
He says he’s not asking them to fill gaps, but to do what they do every day and start from the beginning.
Their verdict will not change the past, he says, but will forever define it.
“What is that when a grown man, frustrated, angry, with hate in his heart, gets out of his car and follows a child, a stranger and shoots him in the heart,” Guy asks.
He says that is their call.
Guy says the defense went through the justifiable use of deadly force and he will go through it because it is their burden.
Guy says the defense forgot a witness - Folgate.
Zimmerman was an estimated 18 feet away from Good and he knew people were opening their windows and doors.
He asks if Zimmerman really needed to shoot Martin.
Guy asks why Martin didn’t go home. He asks if Martin wanted to lead the defendant to his residence.
12:32 p.m.
“If he hadn’t committed a crime, why did he lie so many times,” Guy says.
Guy says Zimmerman lied in saying Noffke told him to get an address.
He says Zimmerman lied when he said he told police to meet him at his car.
Zimmerman lied about being confronted, Guy says.
He lied about Martin covering his mouth and nose, he says.
He asks if there would be blood on the sticks used on Martin’s fingernails.
Guy points out the concrete.
He says if Zimmerman was bashed over and over he wouldn’t look like he did in the photos.
Guy says he lied about being punched dozens of times.
He says Martin had a right to defend himself too.
He says Zimmerman didn’t complain of a headache and sought treatment for a note for work.
Zimmerman lied about Martin seeing the gun, Guy says.
He asks if Martin saw the gun if there would be a gunshot at 90 degrees in his chest.
Zimmerman lied about spreading Martin’s hands out, Guy says.
He says Martin’s hands were clutching the bullet wound in his chest.
Zimmerman lied about Martin circling his car to make him sound menacing, Guy says.
He says Zimmerman lied about knowing the Stand Your Ground law.
Guy says the case isn’t about stand your ground, but staying in the car.
12:25 p.m.
He asks them to use their common sense that it was the person talking like the defendant that had hate in his heart.
Guy tells them they can use the mannequin in the jury room.
He says it’s a physical impossibility for Zimmerman to get his gun. He says the only way is that Martin was getting off of him or he had backed up so far he couldn’t hit him.
Guy says Zimmerman shot Martin because he wanted to.
He asks why Zimmerman went to get an address when Martin had already run off. He says it was self-serving justification and false.
Guy asks them to listen to Jenna Lauer’s 911 call and listen to when the screaming stops at the instance of the gunshot.
He asks why Zimmerman would stop yelling for help if he was in fear.
He asks if Zimmerman’s voice would’ve been hoarse. HE says it is a common sense case.
“It’s not a case about self-defense, it’s a case of self-denial,” Guy says.
He says common sense tells them Zimmerman would know the name of the street.
Guy says if the defendant was soft, he wouldn’t have been able to get wrist control of Martin.
Guy asks if Martin was still on the hunt, would he have stayed on the phone.
12:19 p.m.
He says if the defendant had only done what he was supposed to, to see and call, none of them would be there.
Zimmerman got out of the car, Guy says, but would’ve stayed in his car and driven to the back gate to wait for the police.
He says Martin may not have the defendant’s blood on his hands, but Zimmerman will forever have Martin’s blood on his hands.
Guy quotes “To the living we owe respect, to the dead we owe the truth.”
He says Martin is entitled to the truth and it didn’t come from Zimmerman.
“What evidence is there the defendant followed Martin after he said OK?”
Guy asks what happened after Zimmerman hung up with Noffke and before Martin’s call with Jeantel disconnected.
He asks the jurors to watch the walk-through again.
He says there was two minutes where Zimmerman didn’t go back to his car.
Guy says four minutes is not the amount of time Martin had to run home, but it was how long he had left on his life.
He says he’s asking them to use their common sense and heart and what they heard and the law in the case.
Guy says the animation starts at the “T” intersection and it’s not fair. He suggests they start at the beginning at the 7-Eleven where Martin had every right to be where he was and do what he was doing in walking home.
He asks if the child had the right to defend himself from a strange man.
12:12 p.m.
Guy says the human heart has many functions and most importantly moves us, inspires us and guides us.
If we really want to know what happened on that dark rainy night, should we not look into the heart of the grown man and the heart of that child, Guy says.
He says the defense attorney can make fun of the way Guy says the expletives Zimmerman said, but it was in the heart of Zimmerman.
He asks if it is normal language or in Zimmerman’s heart when he approached Martin.
Guy says the 10-foot long timeline O’Mara used skipped the expletives.
He asks what was in Martin’s heart. “Was it not fear that Ms. Jeantel told you about?”
Guy shows a slide with the quote “What are you following me for?”
He asks if being followed on the way home in the dark is every child’s worst fear.
Guy quotes a saying, “As a man speaks, so is he.”
He says the defendant had a motivation to lie to justify his actions.
A window into a man’s soul is the words from Zimmerman’s mouth in that phone call, Guy says.
Guy says Zimmerman telling Noffke to have the officer call him showed he was not going back to his car or the clubhouse.
There are only two people on earth that know what happened, he says.
He says Zimmerman told lies over and over again.
12:06 p.m.
The jury is reseated. Prosecutor John Guy begins the state's response.
11:50 a.m.
O’Mara says he really feels like he convinced them his client is innocent beyond a reasonable doubt.
He tells them they might first consider if Zimmerman acted in self-defense.
He says self-defense is defense for everything from littering to speeding.
“It’s an easy decision,” O’Mara says, which is because of the facts of the case.
He says the state can never take away the reasonable doubt and tells them not to let the state do it.
He thanks the jury for their time. He says he appreciates the attention and note-taking.
He wants them to look at the instructions, apply them and find him not guilty so Zimmerman can go back to his life.
Judge Nelson grants a 10 minute recess.
11:45 a.m.
O’Mara asks why he had to call Tracy Martin and Serino to testify about the voice screaming for help.
He asks where the state’s expert is to counter use of force.
He says it’s the state’s burden.
He points out the claim that Zimmerman pushed the gun into Martin’s chest.
He tells them to listen to the tape of Zimmerman saying the expletive phrases.
He asks if they need the anger coming from the prosecutor rather than the defendant.
O’Mara asks for one piece of evidence that Zimmerman attacked Martin or landed one blow.
O’Mara grabs a piece of concrete and brings it over in front of the jury.
“That’s cement. That is a sidewalk and that is not an unarmed teenager,” O’Mara says.
He says the suggestion by the state that it can’t hurt someone is disgusting.
“Even if we presume Rachel Jeantel was completely accurate,” O’Mara says, adding that she said Zimmerman said “what’re you doing around here.”
He says Root’s testimony didn’t suggest the appropriate response would be to break someone’s nose.
There was ill-will, spite and anger and Zimmerman was the victim of it, O’Mara says.
He says if Martin would've survived he might've been charged with aggravated battery.
11:39 a.m.
O’Mara says they will talk for a moment about self-defense.
“He doesn’t have to think he was going to die. He does have to think he was going to be injured greatly,” he says.
Based on appearances, Zimmerman must’ve believed the danger was real, O’Mara says.
He says they should find George Zimmerman not guilty.
He shows them a poster board. One says the reasonable doubt phrase.
He shows the jury a graph shown earlier of the “self-defense burden of proof.”
He says that’s why he calls it the bizarro case.
The other thing he says he wants to be clear about is that following someone is not illegal.
He shows them a poster with the phrase on it.
O’Mara says he wants to show them what they haven’t proven.
11:32 a.m.
O’Mara showing a photo of Martin says that is the person that attacked Zimmerman and broke his nose.
He shows a dark photo taken from the scene.
O’Mara says all that is known is when Zimmerman went back to his car, Martin went toward Zimmerman in the dark and they know what happened.
He says lying is with the intent to deceive and asks why Zimmerman would give six statements.
He says Zimmerman knows whatever the state wants him to know like self-defense, but doesn’t know Miranda.
“It defies explanation,” O’Mara says.
He says mud on the knees of Martin’s pants doesn’t defy explanation.
Zimmerman was on his back in the grass getting beat up, O’Mara says.
O’Mara asks what reasonable doubt is.
He says they should start with the presumption of innocence until it is taken away by evidence.
“I almost wish the verdict had guilty, not guilty and completely innocent because I would ask you to check that one,” he says, telling the jurors he has never said that in a criminal trial.
He says Surdyka is an example of someone’s ability to remember a traumatic event.
He says it is the jurors’ call about Bahadoor’s testimony.
Roots testimony of looking at the totality of the circumstances is what they can look at about witnesses agreeing, O’Mara says.
He tells them not to bring their presumptions and assumptions and to only decide on what they are certain of.
“Don’t do it because you feel sorry for anyone,” O’Mara says.
11:19 a.m.
Next slide: Root
He says Root was a trainer. He asks the jurors to accept his testimony as an expert.
Next slide: Bertalan
O’Mara says that is the face of the frustration that Zimmerman was feeling and something he wanted to help out with.
Next slide: Zimmerman’s father
O’Mara says he went to the state attorney’s office and was put under oath and identified his son’s voice in the recording.
He says the jurors will want to consider the forensic evidence.
He shows the jury the picture of the gunshot wound and blood and another picture showing no blood near it.
He says the state has to have a better a case and the photos show evidence of the problems.
O’Mara shows the photos of Martin at 7-Eleven. He shows the jury two cardboard cutouts. One is shaped from a picture of Zimmerman taken at the police station. The other is shaped like Martin as seen in the 7-Eleven photo.
He asks the jurors to compare them.
He asks Zimmerman to stand next to the poster that looks like Martin.
He says Zimmerman’s weight gain doesn’t matter, only what he looked like that day.
O’Mara shows a picture of Martin. He says autopsy photos are horrific and meant to have a negative impact.
He says autopys photos also don't show muscle tone.
11:11 a.m.
Next slide: Mark Osterman
O’Mara says he told them everything he could about Zimmerman and wrote a book about that night.
Next slide: Dr. Rao
He points out the conclusion of minimum of four hits. He says the significance of how life-threatening the injuries were is zero because the statute is clear it is reasonable fear of bodily harm.
Next slide: Benson
He says absence of prints doesn’t mean there was no touching.
Next slide: Kerns.
Next slide: Carter
He says he was a good expert to tell them what self-defense was.
Next slide: Pleasants
Next slide Siewart
Good testimony about the bullets
Next slide: Gorgone
He says there was DNA missed because of the way the evidence was packaged. He says Zimmerman wasn’t bleeding outwardly a lot.
Next slide: Fulton
He says people asked why he even questioned her. He says doctors cut people sometimes when they do their work.
He says he wanted to show how moms think about things and both moms believe it was their son screaming for help.
Next slide: Jahvaris Fulton
He says Jahvaris didn’t really know it was Martin and is now more certain.
Next slide: Dr. Bao
He says it was the state’s decision and he was the one that did the autopsy. He says there was interaction that might’ve been best redone.
He says the wet clothes should’ve been in paper and the hands should’ve been bagged.
Next slide: Zimmerman’s mother
Next slide: Mesa
He heard Zimmerman’s voice in the background and came across credibly.
Next slide: Mark Osterman
He helped Zimmerman figure out how to fire a gun.
Next slide: Osterman’s wife
Explained away the nature of Zimmerman’s call
Next slides: Russo, Benjamin
Identified Zimmerman’s voice
Next slide: Donnelly
He describes his medic experience.
Next slides: Singleton, Serino
Described Mr. Martin hearing the recording and saying it was not his son’s voice.
“It is interesting when you are trying to figure out that issue,” O’Mara says.
Next slide: Pollock
Says he called Zimmerman soft and isn’t sure he would advertise that he was at a .5 and a year later was a 1.
Next slide: Martin, Chief Bill Lee
He says Lee said to separate the family listening to the recording.
Next slide: Dr. DiMaio
He says he testified about the gunshot wounds and suggested it made sense the hand and the jacket did what it did.
He says the forensic evidence supports the contention Zimmerman was on the bottom and Martin was leaning over the top.
He says the state says Martin might have been backing up and if he was arguing that it would be reasonable doubt.
“The could’ve beens don’t belong in this courtroom,” O’Mara says.
He asks for the evidence that shows Martin backed up, and “supports the absurdity they’re trying to have you buy.”
Next slide: Bonaparte
O’Mara call him part of the absurdity of the playing of the call.
Next slide: Dilligard
She said Zimmerman had a light voice.
10:53 a.m.
He thinks Jeantel statement changed after an interview with one of the attorneys.
Next slide shows MacDonald, which he says he talked about the T-Mobile records. He moves on to Jenna Lauer’s slide.
He says Lauer said there was only one person yelling for help and helped them determine the movement of the figures in the animation.
Next slide shows Selma Mora. “She saw what she saw.”
Next slide shows McKinney. Next slides show Jon Good and John Manala, Officer Ayala.
He says if the hands are an inconsistency they use to determine ill-will or spite, that it is absurd.
Next slide: Livingston, Smith.
He says Smith is the one Zimmerman talked to twice for help.
Next slide: Folgate
Next slide: Nakasone
He is the one who said they can’t identify the voice.
Next slide: Singleton.
She addressed the Christian statement.
Next slide: Serino
He says the state knew the surveillance cameras weren’t working and knew it was a bluff when Serino said there was video.
10:46 a.m.
Next slide shows O’Brien, the HOA president, who described the stucco guys leading to the arrest of a burglar.
O’Mara says the state alleging that Zimmerman was frustrated by that and wanted to catch a burglar is not tied together.
Next slide shows Sgt. Raimondo. He calls him a great cop.
Next slide shows Smith, the crime scene tech. He says there is a lack of evidence and Zimmerman gets the benefit.
The next slide shows Bahadoor, and O’Mara asks the jurors to check out her credibility before they take in what she said.
Next slide show Surdyka, who he points out said she heard three pops. “She got it wrong,” he says, adding that she seemed particularly affected by stress.
Next slide shows Jeanne Manalo. He says she made some assumptions on facts she saw afterward. She looked at pictures of Martin when he was 12 years old, he says.
Next slide shows Rachel Jeantel. O’Mara says his perspective is that she didn’t want to be involved and he thinks her mom got with Fulton and told her to tell what happened.
He says Jeantel only reunited with Martin two to three weeks before that night.
If asked to recall what happened is different than remembering, he says.
“Some of her frailties came out in a courtroom on TV,” he says.
10:36 a.m.
O’Mara says the state is saying Zimmerman knew he better say he was screaming, calling him a master-mind murderer.
If you have a doubt that’s true, you need to tell the state don’t ever come back before use like this again, O’Mara says.
He says there is factual innocence.
“He is because he acted in self-defense,” O’Mara says about Zimmerman being innocent.
O’Mara shows a slideshow of the witnesses: Chad Joseph, Andrew Gaugh, Sean Noffke.
He says Noffke showed no anger or animosity in his voice and accepted that Zimmerman may have thought he should go find out the direction of running.
The next slides show: Rumph, Dorival.
He calls Dorival an interesting witness. He says Dorival described who a suspicious person was as someone unknown, someone being in the neighborhood where they don’t belong.
He says he is not going to allow the jurors to ignore the realities of what happened that night.
He says Dorival described Zimmerman as meek.
He describes the Citizens on Patrol program and says Zimmerman declined participating.
10:29 a.m.
Four minutes felt like a long time while doing nothing, O’Mara says. The jurors get to try and figure out what Martin was doing, he adds.
He says someone in decent shape could run a mile in four minutes.
Somebody decided they were angry and did decide that it wasn’t over with the running, he says.
The person who decided it was going to continue is the guy who didn’t go home when he had the chance to, O’Mara says.
He says the state dared to tell the jury that Martin had not decisions, but he had four minutes of planning.
“Now let’s decide what probably happened that night because we know the results.”
He says a 17-year-old gets to talk stupidly and he OK with Jeantel saying her age was 16 or 17.
O’Mara says he would’ve told Zimmerman not to talk to law enforcement if he was called that night.
He asks the jury to throw out all the statements he made and consider what is left.
“Thank God for Jenna Lauer,” he says because she requested a picture.
He shows the enlarged picture of Zimmerman with a bloody nose.
He says there is 40 seconds of screaming.
If it was Trayvon Martin, he says, it was a bizarre 45 second event that still let him batter Zimmerman.
A comparison couldn’t be done, according to Dr. Nakasone, O’Mara says.
He says Mora said Zimmerman looked strange.
He says Zimmerman told Manalo to tell his wife that he shot somebody, not that he killed somebody like De la Rionda said.
“He told his wife he wasn’t the one shot,” O’Mara says.
10:19 a.m.
The jury is reseated. O'Mara resumes his closing argument.
9:57 a.m.
O’Mara shows a diagram of the scene.
“He had four minutes and he told Rachel Jeantel that he was running,” O’Mara says.
He asks if the state showed what Martin was doing in those four minutes.
Judge Nelson grants a recess for 15 minutes.
9:55 a.m.
O’Mara says the animation is just that and somewhat made up, but it does give and idea and is consistent with evidence presented.
He asks them not to connect the dots if they haven’t been connected beyond a reasonable doubt by the state.
It is interesting as well about the phone calls and what Martin was doing.
He says they know he was on the phone with Jeantel and she said he was running.
He asks them to keep in mind the time 7:11:47 because if they look at Lauer’s phone call and when she heard what she heard, and then called at 7:16:11.
Before they take a break he says they will sit and not talk, while he times them. Time on the clock reads 9:50 a.m.
"That's how long Trayvon Martin had to run, about four minutes," O'Mara resumes.
9:45 a.m.
O’Mara shows the jurors the animation.
He says there are questions about where Martin approached, whether from a bush or down the sidewalk. He asks them to look at how the event may have happened at the “T” intersection and progressed from there.
O’Mara has trouble playing the animation, but gets it to play.
He explains the circled items of evidence match where they were found at the scene and Lauer’s 911 call helped them match up the timing.
He says they used figures to show what Good saw.
O’Mara says the figures show the angle they believe the two were in at the time of the gunshot. He mentions Dr. Di Maio’s testimony.
He says after the shot Zimmerman got on top to move out Martin’s hands.
The next viewpoint is shown from a perspective similar to what people see and from Mora’s vantage.
9:35 a.m.
He asks how there can be a level of second-degree murder when he doesn’t know the person.
He tells the jury he put in the weather reports for the day and that it was raining and the wind was at 6.8 mph.
He says the question is if Zimmerman was running after or tracking Martin, but the wind was up.
O’Mara says they must focus where the ill-will, spite and hatred comes in.
He says thinking Zimmerman ran is a presumption and assumption and he doesn’t want them to do that.
O’Mara says the point where Zimmerman asks for the responding officer to call him is where they might say he showed he was going to track down Martin and shoot him.
He asks which witness told the jury Lauer’s house lights were on that night.
He says the state wants them to presume, assume and connect the dots.
Zimmerman said he went to Retreat View Circle and came back with the “baby” flashlight because the other one wasn’t working, O’Mara says.
He says there isn’t one shred of evidence to suggest otherwise that Zimmerman was going back to his truck.
He says Lauer heard the noise out toward the “T” intersection. He says Manalo heard it off to the right. He says Surdyka said it started outside her window.
9:25 a.m.
O’Mara says there is not a witness that said Zimmerman patrolled the neighborhood.
He says they have Bertalan and Zimmerman giving her a lock and offering that she can spend time with his wife.
Zimmerman was on his way to Target and saw someone he thought was suspicious and does what he was told to do and called the non-emergency number, he says.
He says Zimmerman knew he was being recorded and said what he said. He says his client stayed on the phone and cursed toward the people and it’s just happenstance that Martin matched the description.
O’Mara says Zimmerman never screamed, but the De la Rionda suggested he said it under his breath and the jury should assume that means guilt.
“The fact he was willing to saw it on a recorded call with law enforcement is evidence of non-guilt,” O’Mara says.
O’Mara shows a poster with the call and points marked out.
He points out to the jury the dispatcher said “let me know if he does anything else” twice.
He asks them to listen to the tape.
He asks if Zimmerman showed ill-will, spite and hatred when talking to the dispatcher.
9:11 a.m.
He says will show the jury beyond a reasonable doubt his client acted in self-defense.
He says he’ll start at the state’s claim Zimmerman was a cop-wannabe.
He says Zimmerman did want to be cop, and a prosecutor and help his community.
O’Mara says the jury heard from other witnesses it is a noble profession and it supports the contention that he is willing to protect.
He says the state had the obligation to show any piece of evidence that they could to show his actions were inappropriate and they decided to show them two professors.
The other professor talked about self-defense, O’Mara says.
He says the state showed them Zimmerman didn’t make it as a cop one time.
He points out the five phone calls to non-emergency and mentions the sixth one he submitted. He says it rounds it out.
He also submitted to evidence a pile of police reports of other things that happened in the past year at Retreat at Twin Lakes. He says they will show a lot of alarm calls, burglaries, the home invasion and a rash of people burglarizing homes and it will show the only people arrested were young black males.
He asks them to listen to the calls, saying Zimmerman never said “I hate young black males.”
“What have they shown you as to how he acted?”
9:03 a.m.
He says he wants them to know what exactly happened that night and not presume anything, but can presume about his client.
O’Mara says he is going to take on the obligation to prove his client is innocent.
He says the state carries the burden.
He shows the jury a chart titled “Burden of Proof.”
He says until they get to the concept of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” the presumption never dissipates.
He shows a chart called “Self-Defense Burden of Proof.”
He says the state carries the burden of proving Zimmerman did not properly act in self-defense.
He says if there is a reasonable doubt to self-defense, they should say not guilty.
8:55 a.m.
“What do you know about Trayvon Martin? Not much either,” he says, adding they shouldn’t fill in any gaps, presume and assume, or give anyone the benefit of the doubt except George Zimmerman.
“Address my fear, if you would, by just being careful.”
He asks them to look at the instructions and what they say about reasonable doubt.
O’Mara says this case is different from others because they’ve heard from Zimmerman.
He says the burden is on the state to prove the case.
He quotes John Adams – “It is more important innocence be protected than the guilty be punished…”
He reads the rest of the quote.
He says that’s why we have a system that puts so much of a burden on the state attorney’s office.
He reads another quote from Adams about the jury.
“You are living the constitution,” he says.
He says they don’t take it lightly.
O’Mara says it’s interesting in a case like this, adding he calls it the bizarre case in his office, and asks how many “could’ve beens” they heard from the state.
He asks what he has proven to the jurors.
He says beyond a reasonable doubt and no other explanation are good words for prosecutors.
8:48 a.m.
Judge Nelson interrupts because there is something wrong with a screen.
O’Mara resumes.
He says any verdict they come up with is going to be a compromised verdict unless they are careful.
He says a decision like deciding to move from another state is different than deciding about his client.
He says the jurors have to be vigilant and diligent in deciding this case.
They have to look at the essential facts, he says, and failing to do that they will do some of what the state asked them to do.
He says assumptions presume a lack of evidence.
“What do you know about George Zimmerman?”
You know he went to college, he’s married, his mom and dad are still around because they testified, he says.
“You don’t know a lot about him.”
Don’t assume it, don’t connect dots or fill in the blanks, he says.
8:41 a.m.
O’Mara thanks the jury for their service. He says the citizens of Seminole County took on a lot with this trial.
He says he has some fears because when they talked in jury selection, he says he used words like unique.
O’Mara says lawyers deal with what they saw regularly and they ask juror to come in and apply it.
He says it is difficult because they are used to it and they don’t know how to apply a standard of reasonable doubt.
He says his fear is they will default to what they are used to.
O’Mara puts on some sunglasses and a pinky ring. He says it only takes an impression.
He asks Zimmerman to stand and come over. He says the jurors may have in impression because he is at the defense table.
He says they aren’t asked to not have impressions, but they should diminish them because they work against his client.
He says they should be careful with their common sense.
8:35 a.m.
The jury is seated. O'Mara is allowed to proceed.
8:32 a.m.
The attorneys enter a side bar after Judge Nelson asks for the updated verdict form. Judge Nelson asks for the jury to be brought in.
7:58 a.m.
Court resumes at 8:30 a.m. with closing arguments from the defense.