George Zimmerman's defense attorneys are trying to get Trayvon Martin's text messages and phone photos that deal with fighting and guns introduced to the jury in Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial.

As a hearing went past 8 p.m. Tuesday, Zimmerman's attorneys called forensics computer analyst Richard Connor to tell a judge that text messages on Martin's cellphone showed he was trying to buy or sell a gun. Connor also read to the judge text messages he found on Martin's phone that describe Martin recounting a fight he had been in to a friend.

However, after Connor testified, defense attorney Don West said he would narrow the focus to just Martin's texts on fighting because it reflected his physical capabilities.

Judge Debra Nelson called court to recess without ruling, walking out of the courtroom while defense attorney Don West tried to continue arguing.

Follow LIVE UPDATES from Day 21 of the trial.

Jurors were out of the courtroom as the testimony on the 17-year-old Martin's phone records was given to Judge Debra Nelson to help her decide whether to allow the defense to use them.

Nelson had ruled that information about Martin's interest in guns and fighting couldn't be used during opening statements, but she left open the possibility that they could be introduced later.

Prosecutor John Guy said jurors shouldn't be presented with the text messages and photos of a gun found on Martin's phone, as well as a Facebook posting from a half-brother asking Martin when he was going to teach him how to fight.

"It would mislead the jury and be prejudicial," Guy said. "It doesn't tell us about Trayvon Martin and certainly doesn't tell us what George Zimmerman knew about Trayvon Martin."

However, defense attorney Don West said they were relevant.

"It relates to his physical capabilities, his knowledge of fighting," West said.

Ruling on animation delayed

Judge Debra Nelson said she will decide Wednesday morning whether or not to allow the defense to show the jury a computer-animated "re-enactment" of George Zimmerman's scuffle with Trayvon Martin.

The judge heard more than five hours of arguments Tuesday regarding the animation, commissioned by the defense, which depicts the 17-year-old Martin punching Zimmerman in the face and then straddling him.

Defense attorneys called the man who created the animation to testify. Daniel Schumaker explained he sometimes places people in motion-capture suits. It's the same type of technology used in films such as "Avatar."

Prosecutors objected to the animation, saying it wasn't an accurate depiction and will confuse jurors.

To recreate the fight, Schumaker went to the crime scene and had employees in motion-capture suits re-enact what happened based on coroner photographs, police reports, the coroner's report, witness depositions and photos taken by responding police officers, he said.

The fight took place on a dark, rainy night in February 2012, and there were no eyewitnesses who saw the entire fight. Several witnesses saw and heard parts of the struggle that left Martin dead with a bullet in his heart. For a timeline, Schumaker relied on a 911 call made by a neighbor reporting the struggle, he said.

Defense to rest Wednesday?

George Zimmerman's defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, said he expects told the judge Tuesday that his team needs only one more day.

Zimmerman, so far, has not testified, but jurors saw repeated video recordings of Zimmerman telling his side of the story to police investigators.

The defense started its case last Friday, and if it keeps to the schedule anticipated by O'Mara, its presentation will take about half of the time of the prosecution.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder. He is pleading not guilty, claiming he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

Tuesday's testimony

Witnesses listed in reverse order, with the most recent witness on top.

  • Eloise Dilligard, a former neighbor of George Zimmerman's.
  • Norton Bonaparte, Sanford's city manager.
  • Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an expert on gunshot wounds.

Eloise Dilligard is a former resident of the Retreat at Twin Lakes subdivision.

Dilligard testified remotely via video conference Tuesday. This time, she appeared in "full screen view," to avoid making public anyone's username and creating another "Skype bomb" incident like last week, when prosecutor Rich Mantei was inundated with Skype calls after his username was broadcast on the live television feed of the trial as he was questioning witness Scott Pleasants, a former college professor of Zimmerman's calling in from Colorado.

Dilligard said on the night of the shooting, someone asked her to identify either the "victim" or the "suspect." She said she recognized her neighbor, George, adding Zimmerman looked severely injured.

She also said she thought it was Zimmerman's voice screaming on a 911 tape from the night of the shooting.

Norton Bonaparte Jr. is Sanford's city manager.

Defense attorneys called Bonaparte to describe the circumstances of how Trayvon Martin's family came to hear the 911 tapes. Bonaparte said he played the tapes while members of Martin's family sat together at City Hall as a courtesy before the audio was released publicly.

Bonaparte admitted to defense attorney Mark O'Mara that law enforcement was not consulted before the tapes were played for Martin's parents. He also said the Martin family did not want law enforcement in the room when the tapes were played.

Defense attorneys are trying to show that Martin's family members may have influenced each other in concluding the screams are those of the Miami teen. Police officers testified for the defense that it's better for someone who is trying to identify a voice to listen to it alone.

Convincing the jury of who was screaming for help on the tape has become the primary goal of prosecutors and defense attorneys because it would help jurors evaluate Zimmerman's self-defense claim. Relatives of Martin's and Zimmerman's have offered conflicting opinions about who is heard screaming.

Dr. Vincent Di Maio is forensic pathologist with an expertise in gunshot wounds.

Di Maio is a veteran of the U.S. Army Medical Corps and former chief medical examiner of San Antonio, Texas, with more than 40 years of experience as a forensic pathologist.

He said that the trajectory of the bullet and gun powder on Martin's body support Zimmerman's version that Martin was on top of him when Zimmerman fired his gun into Martin's chest. The gun's muzzle was against Martin's clothing and it was anywhere from two to four inches from Martin's skin, he said.

"This is consistent with Mr. Zimmerman's account that Mr. Martin was over him, leaning forward at the time he was shot," said Di Maio.

DiMaio testified that lacerations to the back of Zimmerman's head were consistent with it striking a concrete sidewalk. Later, when looking at photos of Zimmerman's injuries taken the night of the shooting, DiMaio identified six separate impacts to Zimmerman's face and head. He said he believed Zimmerman's nose had been broken.

"It's obvious he's been punched in the nose and hit in the head," he said.

Under cross-examination, DiMaio conceded that the gunshot could also be consistent with Martin pulling away from Zimmerman, and that he reached his conclusion without factoring in statements from some neighbors who say Zimmerman was on top of Martin. DiMaio, who has testified at high-profile trials including that of record producer Phil Spector, said witness accounts are often unreliable. The pathologist said he had been paid $2,400 by the defense.

DiMaio's testimony also addressed the difference between Zimmerman's account that he had placed Martin's arms out to his sides and a photo taken after the shooting that shows Martin's arms under his body. The pathologist said Martin would have been conscious for 10 to 15 seconds after the shooting as a reserve supply of oxygen ran out of his body, and during that time he could have moved his arms.