Trayvon Martin's mother and brother took the stand today in George Zimmerman's trial, followed by the medical examiner who performed Martin's autopsy, and the prosecution rested its case around 5pm. The defense will now present its case; defense attorney Mark O'Mara started by asking the judge to acquit Zimmerman because there is no direct evidence that spite played a role in the killing. The judge denied the motion, CNN reports. Earlier, with the court playing a 911 tape from the night of the shooting, Sybrina and Jahvaris Fulton both identified the screams on the tape as belonging to Martin, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Among the details from today's testimony:
- Sybrina Fulton told the court that Martin had a pair of tattoos bearing the names of his great-grandmother, grandmother, and herself.
- O'Mara asked Sybrina if anyone had "prepared" her before she heard the recording; she said no.
- He also noted that "the only alternative" to Martin screaming was Zimmerman screaming, which would suggest the teen was responsible for his own death, he said; he asked whether she hoped her son wasn't at fault. "I would hope for this to never have happened," she said.
- Jahvaris acknowledged having initially told the media he wasn't certain who was screaming. "I didn't want to believe it was him," he said, per the San Jose Mercury News.
During his testimony, the medical examiner said Trayvon was alive for a while after being shot, "still in pain" and "suffering." (More
George Zimmerman stories.)
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