LIVE BLOG: George Zimmerman trial in the Trayvon Martin case
LIVE BLOG - George Zimmerman trial in the death of Trayvon Martin...
UPDATE, 5:57 p.m.: Judge Nelson has called for the evening recess. Court will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m.
UPDATE, 5:50 p.m.: Serino said that he was concerned that Zimmerman did not say anything to Martin to explain who he was or why he was following him.
UPDATE, 5:45 p.m.: Serino said that there were external concerns about the role that race played in the case. He said that is why he needed to “clear that up” with Zimmerman.
UPDATE, 5:38 p.m.: O’Mara is asking Serino about all the interviews that were conducted with Zimmerman. Serino said that parts of Zimmerman’s story “didn’t add up”. O’Mara is detailing the techniques used by law enforcement in a “challenge interview”.
UPDATE, 5:03 p.m.: “He was being straight-forward in my opinion,” said Serino in reference to Zimmerman. Serino agreed that Zimmerman seemed “flat” and that gave him concern.
UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: Serino said that he did not immediately notice inconsistencies in the story Zimmerman told Singleton and the one that he was told hours later.
UPDATE, 4:41 p.m.: Serino interviewed Zimmerman six hours after the incident, with knowledge of all information that had been collected up to that point.
UPDATE, 4:36 p.m.: Serino confirmed that he showed Zimmerman a picture of Martin to point out how “skinny” he was in comparison to Zimmerman. O’Mara is now questioning Serino.
UPDATE, 4:29 p.m.: Court is back in session.
UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.: De la Rionda pauses the video to ask Serino about what he said to Zimmerman. He confirms that Zimmerman said the screams on another recording did not sound like him. The court has taken a 10 minute break.
UPDATE, 3:22 p.m.: In the recording Serino asked Zimmerman if he would have still acted the same way if Martin was white. Zimmerman replied, “yes”.
UPDATE, 3:10 p.m.: Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda is now playing a video recording of an interview that Serino conducted with Zimmerman later in February 2012.
UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: The prosecution is playing a video where Zimmerman reenacts the events that took place on the night of the shooting.
UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: Zimmerman told Serino in the interview that Martin reached for his firearm after attacking him.
UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: The prosecution is playing the audio recording between Officer Serino and George Zimmerman.
UPDATE, 2:32 p.m.: The state has called their next witness. Officer Chris Serino is an investigator for the Sanford police department. He lead the initial investigation of this case.
UPDATE, 2:23 p.m.: Singleton described Zimmerman as “shocked” when he found out Martin was dead. The prosecutor asked if Singleton thought that it was odd that Zimmerman holstered his gun if he thought Martin was still alive.
UPDATE, 2:19 p.m.: Singleton said it was not unusual that Zimmerman referred to Martin as a “suspect” when talking to the police. She said that Zimmerman’s mention of bushes did not cause her concern.
UPDATE, 2:13 p.m.: “I would have thought that as a neighborhood watch person he would have known the names of the streets,” said Singleton. She said it made her wonder if he “wanted” to get out of the car.
UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Singleton said that it is not uncommon for there to be inconsistencies in statements given by people who are questioned. She said that there were no “significant” differences in the statements given to her by Zimmerman.
UPDATE, 2:05 p.m.: Singleton said that Zimmerman seemed affected by the news that Martin had passed. She denied that Zimmerman seemed to have “ill will” or “hatred” toward Martin at the time of the interview.
UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: Singleton confirmed that she did not have any information about the situation prior to questioning Zimmerman on the night of the shooting.
UPDATE, 1:48 p.m.: O’Mara is now questioning Singleton.
UPDATE, 1:42 p.m.: Singleton said that Zimmerman asked her about her cross on the night of the shooting. She said that he asked if she was catholic because he mentioned that, “in the catholic religion it s always wrong to kill someone”.
UPDATE, 1:30 p.m.: Court is back in session.Â
UPDATE, 12:29 p.m.: The judge has called for a recess for lunch. Court will resume at 1:30 p.m.
UPDATE, 12:17 p.m.: After the display on the Google Map, Zimmerman filled out a written statement. The statement is being shown to the court, and read aloud by Singleton.
UPDATE, 11:58 a.m.: Singleton printed out a Google Maps diagram of the neighborhood, and had Zimmerman detail the night’s events by marking spots in the neighborhood.
UPDATE, 11:47 a.m.: Zimmerman said that the teen said, “you got me” after he was shot. Previously Zimmerman said that Martin covered his nose and mouth. “I guess he was upset I was calling the police,” said Zimmerman.
UPDATE, 11:45 a.m.: In an audio recording with the police, Zimmerman claimed that Martin “circled his car” before disappearing between houses. He claims that Martin punched him in the nose after jumping from the bushes. He also mentioned that Martin slammed his head against the concrete, and said “your gonna die tonight”.
UPDATE, 11:26 a.m.: The prosecution is now playing the recording of Zimmerman’s interview with Officer Singleton.
UPDATE, 11:23 a.m.: Singleton said that she was asked to report to the police station after Zimmerman had been taken there. Singleton confirmed that she conducted a recorded interview with George Zimmerman during his time at the station. Singleton said that Zimmerman did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. She also confirmed that Zimmerman denied that he needed medical treatment.
UPDATE, 11:14 a.m.: Court is back in session. The state has called their next witness, Doris Singleton. She is a police officer with the Sanford police department. She was assigned to the narcotics unit during the time of the shooting.
UPDATE, 10:56 a.m.: The court has taken a 15 minute recess.
UPDATE, 10:50 a.m.: Nakasone is explaining the dangers of bias among people who are analyzing voices in the scientific community.
UPDATE, 10:37 a.m.: Nakasone has confirmed that there is no amount of screaming that could be used to conduct a voice analysis under the current accepted technique. He said that there is no way to recreate the screams, even under similar circumstances. Nakasone agrees that “science can in no way help in this case”.
UPDATE, 10:30 a.m.: Nakasone said that 30 seconds of natural speech is needed to conduct a good analysis.
UPDATE, 10:01 a.m.: Nakasone is a part of a group called NIST that tests the efficiency of different methods of analysis in the scientific field. He said that NIST is well versed in the cutting edge technologies, but the organization has not recognized a technique to analyze the extreme screams featured in this case.
UPDATE, 9:56 a.m.: Nakasone said that many of the scientists in his field would agree that the recordings are not suitable for analysis.
UPDATE, 9:50 a.m.: Defense attorney, Don West, is now questioning Nakasone.
UPDATE, 9:47 a.m.: Nakasone said that the best course of action to analyze this case would be to use a “familiar voice analysis”, where someone who has heard the individual’s voice in a variety of situations listens to the sample.
UPDATE, 9:26 a.m.: Nakasone said he received eight recordings to analyze pertaining to this case. He said that he discounted the screams in Jenna Lauer’s call while she was talking to the 911 operator, but there was about three seconds of screams that were uninterrupted in the sample. Nakasone said that his judgement was that these recordings were incompatible for voice comparison.
UPDATE, 9:20 a.m.: Nakasone said that voice analysis can be affected by the emotional state of the individual producing the voice, the type of cell phone the recording was taken from, and call duration.
UPDATE July 1, 9:07 a.m.: Court is now in session. The next witness, Hirotaka Nakasone, is a technology specialist for the FBI that focuses on audio electronics. He is now on the stand.
