After a little less than two weeks of testimony from witnesses the prosecution in the George Zimmerman trial rested on Friday afternoon. Once Judge Debra Nelson turned down the defense's request for acquittal they called their first two witnesses, according to Fox News.
Friday's testimony revolved around the 911 call that has been at the heart of the trial. First jurors heard from members of Trayvon Martin's family, his brother and his mother, who believed that the voice screaming for help in the background of the call belonged to Martin.
The first two witnesses called by the defense also testified about the voices on the 911 call but came to a different conclusion. The first witness was Zimmerman's mother, Gladys Zimmerman. When asked to identify the screaming voice Gladys said, "That's George's voice." When asked if she was sure she responded, "Because he's my son," according to USA Today.
Jorge Meza, Zimmerman's uncle, also took the stand to identify the voices on the 911 call. Meza testified that he had known that Zimmerman had been involved in a shooting but learned of the 911 call while watching TV; he instantly knew the voice crying for help belonged to his nephew, according to USA Today.
"It was George Zimmerman screaming for his life," Meza said. "I felt it inside of my heart that it is George."
After the prosecution rested its case defense attorney Mark O'Mara spoke with reporters about how the case has progressed up until this point. O'Mara suggested that the defense may attempt to convince Judge Nelson to allow them to bring up Martin's past history of fighting and marijuana use. In pretrial hearings Judge Nelson banned the defense from using such evidence but said that if the defense can prove relevance she may change her mind, according to CBS News.
O'Mara said that it since the prosecution decided to delve into Zimmerman's past, introducing classes he had taken in criminal justice as evidence, that it may have opened the door for the defense to do the same.
"It may put on the table what Trayvon Martin may have brought to the table that night, talking about past fighting and things like that," O'Mara said. "We now have Dr. Bao who said as a matter of fact, it [the THC level of Martin's blood] does have some effect. I think [Judge Nelson's] stance was, prove to me the relevance before you let the jury see that. We'll try to do that and see her decision.
O'Mara also discussed whether or not his client would take the stand at the press conference.
"I said I would have to convince myself first that the state has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt before I decide exactly how to handle that," O'Mara said. "I'm still considering that. We are going to start presenting our witnesses and we'll see if that includes George."
A live stream of all of the proceedings can be seen here.
