Reporter's Notebook: The State Rests and the Defense Begins

Day 9 of the George Zimmerman trial

The state started the day with Trayvon Martin's mom Sybrina Fulton telling jurors it is her son crying for help on a 911 call.

At 5 p.m., the defense would start its case - the first witness - George Zimmerman's mom Gladys who would tell jurors the screams for help were her son.

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Zimmerman's uncle Jorge Meza would also take the stand for the defense and say he didn't just hear the scream, "I felt the scream, like my nephew screaming for his life, it was a moment that I actually live with me every moment."

What happened between those powerful moments? Hours-long testimony by the medical examiner who performed Trayvon Martin's autopsy. Dr. Shiping Bao told jurors Martin was shot through the heart with bullet fragments lodged in his lungs.

He would say Martin may have been alive one-to-ten minutes after the gunshot "still in pain" he would say, still "suffering."

The defense would challenge him on that during cross examination.

Here's what Miami-based former federal prosecutor David Weinstein had to say about Friday:

As Friday progressed, it proved not to be the best way for the state to rest their case.

Sybrina Fulton and Trayvon's brother were powerful witnesses. However, the Medical Examiner came off as a side show, a distraction and provided some more testimony for the defense. It would have been better to close with the civilian witnesses.


The motion for Judgement of Acquittal provided a glimpse of each side's closing arguments.

The defense chose two short and effective witnesses to end the day. Both witnesses testified well and their testimony creates reasonable doubt as to whose voice is crying out on the 911 tape.