As a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman called police close to 50 times over an eight-year-period to report such things as slow vehicles, loitering strangers in the neighborhood and open garages.
Prosecutors want to introduce recordings of some of those calls during Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, saying they are indicative of his overzealousness in pursuing people he considered to be suspicious — and of his state of mind on the night the unarmed teen was killed.
Prosecutors are expected to push to introduce recordings of non-emergency calls George Zimmerman made to law enforcement officials over an eight-year period, after the former neighborhood watch volunteer’s second-degree murder trial got off to a startling start.
Zimmerman, 29, called the police close to 50 times over an eight-year-period to report such things as slow vehicles, loitering strangers in the neighborhood and open garages.
Prosecutors want to introduce recordings of some of those calls, saying they are indicative of Zimmerman’s overzealousness in pursuing people he considered to be suspicious – and of his state of mind on the night he shot unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, claiming he shot Martin in self-defense.
Defense attorneys object to the introduction of the calls, saying they should not be admissible under the rules of evidence.
Judge Debra Nelson said she would address the matter Tuesday, on the second day of the trial that has stirred nationwide debate over racial profiling, vigilantism and Florida’s expansive laws on the use of deadly force.
Jurors are being sequestered for the duration of the trial, which could last several weeks.
On Monday, prosecutor John Guy cursed and defense attorney Don West told a joke as both sides laid out opening arguments.
The all-female jury of six took in both unconventional statements, alternately stunned, taking notes and at times appearing to nod in agreement. Jaws in the jury box dropped when Guy electrified the courtroom with a short, but profanity-laced and impassioned argument that sought to paint the defendant as an angry and out-of-control vigilante who was stalking Martin when he shot the teen in the gated community in Sanford, where he lived.
Defense attorneys object to the introduction of the calls, saying they should not be admissible under the rules of evidence.
Judge Debra Nelson said she would address the matter Tuesday, on the second day of the trial that has stirred nationwide debate over racial profiling, vigilantism and Florida’s expansive laws on the use of deadly force.
Two police dispatch phone calls will be important evidence for both sides’ cases.
The first call was the one made to the non-emergency police dispatcher as Zimmerman followed Martin walking through his gated community. At one point, the dispatcher tells Zimmerman he doesn’t need to be following Martin.
The second 911 call captures screams from the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin’s parents said the screams are from their son while Zimmerman’s father contends they belong to his son.
Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won’t be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods the experts used were unreliable.
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