All eyes in the nation are turned towards Florida as George Zimmerman’s trial continues to develop and unfold. Zimmerman, the 29-year-old Neighborhood Watch enthusiast who has unfortunately become a household name in the wake of the events on February, is charged with murder in the second degree and faces life in prison.
Since the trial began, there have been a number of major twists or developments, the most recent being Judge Debra Nelson ruling Wednesday that Zimmerman’s numerous prior non-emergency calls to law enforcement — reporting “shady” characters in the neighborhood — are admissible as evidence. They were then played for the jury by the prosecution, to establish that Zimmerman was a paranoid racist who was slowly pushed to a breaking point by the proliferation of crime in his neighborhood, eventually snapping and killing Trayvon Martin, “because he wanted to,” according to the prosecutors.
The defense is attempting to argue that Zimmerman is simply a responsible, concerned citizen doing his duty, though the team got off to a fairly rocky start after attorney Don West’s opening statement, which began — inexplicably — with a knock-knock joke.
“Knock knock,” it went. “Who’s there?” “George Zimmerman.” “George Zimmerman who?
“All right, good, you’re on the jury.”
Evidently, West was trying to use humor to illustrate the difficulty in selecting a jury for a major trial of this sort. “Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying,” West told the nonplussed jury.
One interesting procedural note involves the number of jurors. Watching the live feed, a number of viewers have commented on the apparent number of men and women serving. In Florida, for felony cases not involving the death penalty, only six jurors are required, plus as many alternates as the judge deems are necessary. One alternate in the case, juror B-72, has already been dismissed for reasons not pertaining to the case.
Notable witnesses so far include Sgt. Anthony Raimondo of the Sanford Police Department, who met Zimmerman at the scene of Martin’s alleged murder, and Jeannee Manalo and Jane Surdyka, both residents of the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the townhouse complex in which Martin was killed.
