LIVE BLOG: George Zimmerman trial in the Trayvon Martin case

LIVE BLOG - George Zimmerman trial in the death of Trayvon Martin...

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UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: Judge Nelson has called for the official evening recess. Court will be in recess until 8:30 a.m. for the attorneys and 9:00 a.m. for the jury.

UPDATE, 4:36 p.m.: Judge Nelson is releasing the jury for the evening so that the attorneys can discuss matters outside of their presence. The jury will return for more proceedings tomorrow morning.

UPDATE, 4:29 p.m.: Benson said that she only received one latent print from a firearm to analyze. She was quickly released after only a couple questions from both counsels.

UPDATE, 4:24 p.m.: The state has called their next witness, Kristen Benson. She is a latent print analyst.

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m.: The judge extended the break for 30 more minutes.

UPDATE, 3:10 p.m.: The court has taken a 15 minute recess.

UPDATE, 3:07 p.m.: After a momentary redirect from the prosecution Rao was released.

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.: O’Mara mentioned that “life threatening” injuries did not play a part in this case.

UPDATE, 2:59 p.m.: Rao said it is difficult for her to offer opinions on a photograph. She described them as “distorted”. O’Mara is asking the witness about the number of times that it is possible that Zimmerman’s head was slammed into the concrete.

UPDATE, 2:48 p.m.: Rao is now looking at smaller and more accurate pictures of Zimmerman’s injuries. She said that one of the presumed protrusions on his scalp is just the shape of his head. She also does not recognize bruising in the same areas that O’Mara does.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: O’Mara is cross examining the witness. Rao said Zimmerman’s injuries could be consistent with more than one punch, depending on the scenario.

UPDATE, 2:17 p.m.: Rao said that Zimmerman’s injuries are consistent with coming into contact with a concrete surface one time. She said they are not consistent with being slammed multiple times because she explained  that “slammed” implies great force. She said Zimmerman’s injuries were not severe enough to sustain claims of being slammed repeatedly.

UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Rao said that she was provided many pieces of evidence and reports to give her background into the incident and condition of Martin and Zimmerman. She classified the injuries to Zimmerman as “insignificant” and “not life threatening”.

UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: The state has called their next witness, Valerie Rao, who is the chief medical examiner. She has been in the medical field for 32 years. She has been qualified by the court as a forensic pathologist.

UPDATE, 1:53 p.m.: Zimmerman told Hannity that he does not regret getting out of the car or having a gun. He said “it was all a part of God’s plan”.

UPDATE, 1:42 p.m.: Court is back in session. A video of George Zimmerman’s interview on the Sean Hannity show is being played for the court. Mark O’Mara is in the video alongside Zimmerman.

UPDATE, 12:22 p.m.: Judge Nelson has called for a recess for lunch. Court will resume at 1:30 p.m.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: Osterman said that Zimmerman has not seen a draft of the book, and they did not have any conversations about the incident so that Zimmerman could corroborate facts included in Osterman’s book. Osterman admits that he did not take any notes and wrote the book from memory four months after the incident. He said he would defer to other testimonies because he could have documented it wrong.

UPDATE, 12:14 p.m.: Osterman said it is not unusual for someone to talk after they have been shot.

UPDATE, 12:09 p.m.: Osterman said “without question” that it was Trayvon Martin that mounted Zimmerman.

UPDATE, 11:56 a.m.: Osterman drove Zimmerman’s wife to the police station and waited with her until Zimmerman was released. Osterman described Zimmerman as “wide eyed” and “detached” after he was released from the police station.

UPDATE, 11:54 a.m.: O’Mara is now questioning Osterman.

UPDATE, 11:45 a.m.: Osterman said that Zimmerman told him that after shooting Martin he was not sure that he had “struck” him and got on top of him to “pin him down”. He said he was told that Martin saw the gun in the holster and grabbed for it. He also said that he was told that Martin approached Zimmerman by walking up from abut 15 feet away.

UPDATE, 11:36 a.m.: Osterman said that Zimmerman told him that he was going for his cellphone and when he looked up he was punched in the nose by Martin. Osterman said Zimmerman told him that his head was being “bashed” on the sidewalk and that he screamed for help to someone who came outside. Osterman has written a book about the case and is using it as a part of his testimony.

UPDATE, 11:27 a.m.: Osterman is telling the court what Zimmerman explained to him about the incident.

UPDATE, 11:23 a.m.: Court is back in session. The state has called their next witness, Mark Osterman, who is an officer with the Federal Marshal Service..  He claims that Zimmerman is the “best friend he ever had”.

UPDATE, 11:05 a.m.: O’Mara mentioned that blood would not have come from Zimmerman’s nose until he stood up after the altercation, and therefore not on Martin’s hands. Officer Serino has been excused and the court will be in recess for 15 minutes.

UPDATE, 10:57 a.m.: Serino confirmed that the calls that Zimmerman placed about suspicious activity were pointing out African American males. Serino also confirmed earlier that it is not illegal to wear a hoodie at night.

UPDATE, 10:32 a.m.: Serino said that he would not have questioned Martin just based off of his “presence” in the situation.

UPDATE, 10:26 a.m.: Serino said that there was evidence to say the Zimmerman followed Martin after the non-emergency operator told him that they “don’t need him to do that”. Serino said that Zimmerman’s “end location” was of concern. Serino and O’Mara are using a diagram to indicate their understandings of the incident.

UPDATE, 10:18 a.m.: O’Mara mentioned in his re-direct that a couple of weeks before the incident a young black man was arrested in Zimmerman’s neighborhood for multiple burglaries. Serino said that there were tools that may have been used to pick locks found behind a neighbor’s house a few days after the incident, though unrelated to the case.

UPDATE, 10:13 a.m.: Serino confirmed that he referred to Martin as “skinny”. He said he would not consider Zimmerman as skinny at the time that he first came into contact with him.

UPDATE, 10:09 a.m.: De la Rionda recalls when Zimmerman said in the reenactment video that he spread Martin’s hands out to the sides after he shot him. De la Rionda then referenced the pictures taken by Manalo where Martin’s hands were underneath him after he had passed. Serino agreed that he thought Zimmerman was exaggerating the manner in which he was hit.

UPDATE, 10:05 a.m.: De la Rionda played a part of Zimmerman’s reenactment video. In the video Zimmerman claims that to his left he could not find an address, but De la Rionda points out that there is a house with an address in clear view to his right belonging to Jenna Lauer.

UPDATE, 10:00 a.m.: Bernie de la Rionda is playing the recording of Serino’s interview with Zimmerman. De la Rionda is pausing the recording at times where Serino seemed to be challenging Zimmerman’s inconsistencies.

UPDATE, 9:43 a.m.: Serino confirmed that the explicit language used by Zimmerman to describe Martin  indicated ill-will or hate.

UPDATE, 9:36 a.m.: Serino said that it did not cause him concern when Zimmerman claimed that the screams in the background of a 911 call did not sound like him.

UPDATE, 9:26 a.m.: After protest from the prosecution, the judge has given the jury instruction to disregard an answer by Serino in yesterday’s questioning. He answered “yes” when asked by O’Mara if he thought Zimmerman was “telling the truth” during their interview in February.

UPDATE July 2, 9:01 a.m.: Court is back in session. Lead investigator Chris Serino will return to the stand to finish the cross-examination by defense attorney Mark O’Mara.

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