Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Monday was the first full day for the defense to present its case in the George Zimmerman trial.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the February 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, of Miami Gardens. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense.
Monday morning was filled with testimony from Zimmerman's friends, testifying how the voice screaming for help in the background of a 911 call is that of Zimmerman.
Leanne Benjamin told the jury she is certain about the voice in the background.
"I am assuming you recognize at least one of the voice is on there?" asked prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.
"Absolutely," said Benjamin.
"And that is definitely George Zimmerman? " asked de la Rionda.
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"Definitely George," Benjamin said.
"No disputing," asked the prosecutor.
"No dispute," she said.
Benjamin's husband, John Donnelly, was emotional on the stand, also insisting the voice on the 911 call is Zimmerman's.
Under cross-examination de la Rionda questioned Donnelly's ability to be fair, noting he contributed $2,500 to Zimmerman's legal defense fund, and also bought him $1,700 worth of suits to wear during the trial.
Several Sanford police detectives testified about their investigation. Adam Pollack, a personal trainer, talked about how he trained Zimmerman in mixed martial arts and boxing.
Mark Osterman, a federal air marshal, calls himself Zimmerman's best friend. He also testified the yell for help on the 911 call is Zimmerman's voice.
He helped Zimmerman purchase the 9mm pistol used in the shooting.
In presenting their case, prosecutors questioned 38 witnesses over nine days. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara has said he expects to wrap up his defense by Thursday.
Martin's father Tracy Martin was one of the last witnesses to take the stand Monday, saying he listened to the 911 call, with screaming in the background, and is convinced the person yelling for help was his son Trayvon.
"I was listening to his life being taken, I was trying to come to grips that Trayvon was here no more," he said.
Contradicting testimony came earlier when the lead detective in the case said that in the days after the shooting Tracy Martin listened to the tape and told the detective it was not his son screaming.
A second detective backed up that claim.
The former Sanford police chief who lost his job during the fallout from Trayvon Martin's fatal shooting also appeared on the witness stand at Zimmerman's trial. Bill Lee was called to the witness stand by the defense on Monday to testify about a 911 call in which screams can be heard in the background.
Convincing the jury of whose voice is on the tapes is important to both sides because it would help jurors decide who was the aggressor in the confrontation that left Martin dead.
Relatives of Martin's and Zimmerman's have offered conflicting opinions on previous days about who is heard screaming.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled that jurors may be told that Martin had small amounts of marijuana in his body when he died. Judge Nelson denied a prosecution request to keep out parts of a toxicology report that shows Martin had small amounts of marijuana in his system.
Prosecutors argued the information would be prejudicial. But defense attorneys said it was relevant since Zimmerman believed Martin was under the influence at the time he spotted him in his neighborhood.
