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George Zimmerman Tag

BREAKING NEWS State witness Scott Pleasants, a Professor of George Zimmerman's for an online criminal justice course, just testified on cross-examination by O'Mara that Zimmerman's stated career goal was to become and attorney and eventually a State prosecutor. [caption id="attachment_57510" align="alignnone" width="500"] Professor Scott Pleasants, testifies: "Zimmerman...

Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post. During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening. This morning Court is expected to start at 8:300AM to hold a hearing on whether George Zimmerman's college records and applications to a VA police academy should be admitted. Once that is done, the trial proper will start. To see yesterday's end-of-day analysis and video, which describes how Mark O'Mara's cross-examination of Investigator Serino so severely damaged the State's theory of the case, click here:

Zimmerman Trial Day 7 Wrap Up: Prosecution recovers a little, prepared to introduce college records

To see yesterday's mid-day wrap up, which provides analysis and video of the testimony of State witnesses (former Investigator, now) Patrolman Chris Serino, and Federal Air Marshall and self-described Zimmerman best friend Mark Osterman click here:

Zimmerman Update Exclusive — Mid-Day 7 — Serino more ambivalent, Osterman supports self-defense

For all of our prior coverage on day-to-day events in court, as covered here at Legal Insurrection, click here:

ARCHIVE: Zimmerman Trial LIVE coverage all day, every day

For all of our prior coverage on issues specific to the Law of Self Defense as covered at my own blog, click here:

Law of Self Defense Blog: Zimmerman Trial

(NOTE: If you do wander over to the LOSD blog, be sure to come back to Legal Insurrection to comment, as nearly all my time is spent here for the duration of the trial.)

Live Stream Video

WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD [For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense, or @lawselfdefense2 if I'm in Twitmo--follow both!.)

Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post. During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening. [caption id="attachment_57359" align="alignnone" width="347"]Screen Shot 2013-07-02 at 8.13.45 AM Defense Attorney Mark O'Mara cross-examines Sanford PD Investigator Chris Serino, 7/1/13[/caption] This morning Court is expected to start at 9:00AM, with the continuing cross-examination of State witness Investigator Chris Serino, who at the time of events was the lead investigator into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Our two live video feeds and scrolling Twitter feed of selected commenters can be found just below these introductory comments. To see yesterday's end-of-day analysis and video, which describes how Mark O'Mara's cross-examination of Investigator Serino so severely damaged the State's theory of the case, click here:

Zimmerman Trial Day 6 – Analysis & Video – State’s witness Chris Serino seriously undermines charge

To see yesterday's mid-day wrap up, which provides analysis and video of the testimony of State witnesses Dr. Hirotaka Nakasone, FBI speech expert, Police Officer Doris Singleton, and the direct examinaton by Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda of Investigator Chris Serino, click here:

Zimmerman Update Exclusive — Mid-Day 6 — Zimmerman recounts fight for his life (recording)

For all of our prior coverage on day-to-day events in court, as covered here at Legal Insurrection, click here:

ARCHIVE: Zimmerman Trial LIVE coverage all day, every day

For all of our prior coverage on issues specific to the Law of Self Defense as covered at my own blog, click here:

Law of Self Defense Blog: Zimmerman Trial

(NOTE: If you do wander over to the LOSD blog, be sure to come back to Legal Insurrection to comment, as nearly all my time is spent here for the duration of the trial.)

Live Stream Video

WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD [For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense.)



Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post.

During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening.

This morning Court is expected to start at 9:00AM.

To see our weekend wrap-upp & reader poll, covering last week's State's witness testimony and our exclusive analysis of it, click here:

Zimmerman Trial – Open Comment Forum – Weekend Wrap-Up & Reader Poll

To see our Sunday evening post on the issue of how much injury one must suffer before you can act in lawful self-defense, click here:

Zimmerman Update — How Much Injury Is Required Before Self-Defense is Justified?

For all of our prior coverage on day-to-day events in court, as covered here at Legal Insurrection, click here:

ARCHIVE: Zimmerman Trial LIVE coverage all day, every day

For all of our prior coverage on issues specific to the Law of Self Defense as covered at my own blog, click here:

Law of Self Defense Blog: Zimmerman Trial

(NOTE: If you do wander over to the LOSD blog, be sure to come back to Legal Insurrection to comment, as nearly all my time is spent here for the duration of the trial.)

Live Stream Video

WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD

[For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense.)



Hey folks, Our Friday end-of-day analysis post had accumulated in excess of 200 comments, and, perhaps coincidentally, we also began hearing increasing complaints of slow loading.  Whether the cause is the large number of comments or some other aspect of the page, Professor Jacobson and I...

Under direct testimony John Good testified that the black man wearing the black hoodie was straddling the man in the white or red sweatshirt "MMA-style" and rained down blows in a "Ground-and-Pound" style of attack.   [caption id="attachment_57004" align="alignnone" width="473"] Taryvon Martin at 7-11, February 26, 2012[/caption] It...

The State seems to have suffered the most destructive of its own witnesses to date in calling Jonathan Good to the stand.Good was composed, coherent, and direct through his extensive testimony, the entirety of which was entirely consistent with the defense's theory of lawful self-defense. [caption...

A neighbor, John Good, who witnessed the fight between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman has just devastated the State's case, testifying that he saw the fight between the two, that Trayvon was on top punching Mixed Martial Arts style, and that the scream must have come from Zimmerman because Zimmerman was on the bottom and Trayvon was faced away from the witness. https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350618707069906945 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350619058535800834 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350618313795178496 https://twitter.com/renestutzman/status/350620377791201280 https://twitter.com/renestutzman/status/350619551010004993

Today we will again be covering the Zimmerman Trial live, all day, with streaming video. Continuing commentary will be posted in the Twitter feed of selected contributors below the first video feed, and breaking news will be added at the bottom of this post. During the lunch recess, or immediately thereafter, we will post a mid-day update (not just a list of tweets this time!). We'll then follow up with the usual detailed end-of-day wrap up, including video and embedded Tweets, at the usual time in the evening. This morning Court is expected to start at 9:00AM. To see yesterday's video of witness testimony and our exclusive analysis, click here: Zimmerman Trial Day 4 – End-of-Day Analysis & Video of State’s Witnesses For all of our prior coverage on day-to-day events in court, as covered here at Legal Insurrection, click here: ARCHIVE: Zimmerman Trial LIVE coverage all day, every day For all of our prior coverage on issues specific to the Law of Self Defense as covered at my own blog, click here: Law of Self Defense Blog: Zimmerman Trial

Live Stream Video

WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD [For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense.)

Once again, it was simply not a very good day at all for the prosecution. The primary State witnesses today were Rachel Jeantel, Jenna Lauer, and Selma Mora. The first had her credibility substantively destroyed, the second was powerfully--almost humiliatingly--co-opted by the defense, and the third provided testimony entirely consistent with the defense's theory of lawful self-defense. There was also some (I expect temporary) hubbub that O'Mara may have inadvertently opened the door to allow the State to introduce evidence of specific prior bad acts by George Zimmerman, and I address that in detail, as well, below. [caption id="attachment_56868" align="alignnone" width="560"]Screen Shot 2013-06-27 at 1.46.41 PM Rachel Jeantel, State witness[/caption] With that said, let's get to it:

Rachel Jeantel, Star "Ear"-Witness of the State

Much of the day was consumed in West's continuing cross-examination of Rachel Jeantel, the State's star "ear-witness." She was purportedly on the phone with Martin up to the final moments of his confrontation with Zimmerman, and has over time come to claim an increasing amount of knowledge of the details of that confrontation. It has become common knowledge that Jeantel has perpetrated a number of lies on this case, both under oath and otherwise, and West made certain to touch on each of these, albeit with a relatively light hand. She lied about her age--she was 18-years-old not 16-years-old at the time, she lied about why she did not attend Martin's funeral or wake, she lied about her name to Martin's mother and others, and so on. For many of these lies she offered a relatively innocuous excuse--she didn't go the funeral because she doesn't like to see dead bodies, for example. But the sheer number and variety of them cast Jeantel as someone who was perfectly comfortable creating a fabrication if it served her convenience or purposes. What most damaged her credibility, however, was not West's exposure of these numerous falsehoods. Instead, West took a far more clever approach to his cross-examination of Jeantel. Many legal (and non-legal) pundits had wondered how West would walk the fine line of impeaching Jeantel's testimony without overreaching and causing the jury to become empathetic to the poor young woman in a difficult situation not of her making.

Hey folks, We're trying something different for today's mid-day update. Rather than write a bunch of text, I've imbedded below some of the more key tweets I've made over the course of the morning. (This has the benefit of giving me a few minutes to each some lunch.) Hopefully, the tweets below will give you a sense for how West's cross-examination of Rachel Jeantel has gone so far this morning. We'll have a detailed analysis, of course, in this evening's end-of-day wrap-up post. Enjoy, and be sure to check back in to our live coverage page at 1:14PM (EST), here: Zimmerman Trial LIVE VIDEO – Day 4 – State’s Witnesses https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350240679101861888 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350241151351144448 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350241932192129025 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350244762567196672 https://twitter.com/LawSelfDefense/status/350255988445687809