Judge rules defense can show Trayvon Martin died with marijuana in his system
Defense lawyers will be permitted to show that Trayvon Martin had
marijuana in his system when he and George Zimmerman had their fateful
encounter in a gated community in Florida last year, the judge in
Zimmerman's murder trial ruled Monday.
Judge Debra Nelson denied a motion by prosecutors to keep toxicology
results showing THC in Martin's system from the jury, paving the way for
Zimmerman's lawyers to argue the drug may have influenced the teen's
behavior. Defense attorney Don West noted that in Zimmerman’s statement
to the non-emergency 911 dispatcher that it appeared the person he was
observing in the Sanford, Fla., community was “on drugs.”
Late Monday, Zimmerman defense spokesman Shawn Vincent said the
defense could rest by the end of the day Tuesday or early Wednesday
morning. The prosecution would then have rebuttal witnesses, with
closing statements by Thursday or Friday. Vincent stressed this scenario
depended on everything going as expected.
Nelson's ruling on the toxicology results came after the jury was
dismissed following a day of conflicting testimony about whose voice
could be heard screaming on a subsequent 911 tape. A parade of
Zimmerman's friends said they recognized the neighborhood watch
volunteer's voice, but Martin's father, who police said initially told
them he did not recognize the voice, said he came to realize it was his
son after hearing the tape some 20 times.
The testimony, in week three of Zimmerman's murder trial, came after
the mothers of both Zimmerman and Martin testified Friday it was their
son doing the screaming in the Feb. 26, 2012, 911 call made to Sanford,
Fla., police. The issue is critical because Zimmerman, a 29-year-old
neighborhood watch volunteer, says he shot the 17-year-old in
self-defense as he was being beaten.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق