_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Defense's closing arguments

9:03 a.m.
He says he wants them to know what exactly happened that night and not presume anything, but can presume about his client.

O’Mara says he is going to take on the obligation to prove his client is innocent.

He says the state carries the burden.

He shows the jury a chart titled “Burden of Proof.”

He says until they get to the concept of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” the presumption never dissipates.

He shows a chart called “Self-Defense Burden of Proof.”

He says the state carries the burden of proving Zimmerman did not properly act in self-defense.

He says if there is a reasonable doubt to self-defense, they should say not guilty.

8:55 a.m.
“What do you know about Trayvon Martin? Not much either,” he says, adding they shouldn’t fill in any gaps, presume and assume, or give anyone the benefit of the doubt except George Zimmerman.

“Address my fear, if you would, by just being careful.”

He asks them to look at the instructions and what they say about reasonable doubt.

O’Mara says this case is different from others because they’ve heard from Zimmerman.

He says the burden is on the state to prove the case.

He quotes John Adams – “It is more important innocence be protected than the guilty be punished…”

He reads the rest of the quote.

He says that’s why we have a system that puts so much of a burden on the state attorney’s office.

He reads another quote from Adams about the jury.

“You are living the constitution,” he says.

He says they don’t take it lightly.

O’Mara says it’s interesting in a case like this, adding he calls it the bizarre case in his office, and asks how many “could’ve beens” they heard from the state.

He asks what he has proven to the jurors.

He says beyond a reasonable doubt and no other explanation are good words for prosecutors.

8:48 a.m.
Judge Nelson interrupts because there is something wrong with a screen.
O’Mara resumes.

He says any verdict they come up with is going to be a compromised verdict unless they are careful.

He says a decision like deciding to move from another state is different than deciding about his client.

He says the jurors have to be vigilant and diligent in deciding this case.

They have to look at the essential facts, he says, and failing to do that they will do some of what the state asked them to do.

He says assumptions presume a lack of evidence.

“What do you know about George Zimmerman?”

You know he went to college, he’s married, his mom and dad are still around because they testified, he says.

“You don’t know a lot about him.”

Don’t assume it, don’t connect dots or fill in the blanks, he says.

8:41 a.m.
O’Mara thanks the jury for their service. He says the citizens of Seminole County took on a lot with this trial.

He says he has some fears because when they talked in jury selection, he says he used words like unique.

O’Mara says lawyers deal with what they saw regularly and they ask juror to come in and apply it.

He says it is difficult because they are used to it and they don’t know how to apply a standard of reasonable doubt.

He says his fear is they will default to what they are used to.

O’Mara puts on some sunglasses and a pinky ring. He says it only takes an impression.

He asks Zimmerman to stand and come over. He says the jurors may have in impression because he is at the defense table.

He says they aren’t asked to not have impressions, but they should diminish them because they work against his client.

He says they should be careful with their common sense.

8:35 a.m.
The jury is seated. O'Mara is allowed to proceed.

8:32 a.m.
The attorneys enter a side bar after Judge Nelson asks for the updated verdict form. Judge Nelson asks for the jury to be brought in.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

G'morning, flgirl543.

Nervous about the acquittal? I am a bit and I don't live near Sanford.

_________________
All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

I do wish O'Mara wouldn't make the claim he will show "absolute innocence". That concerns me.

He went through the chart of how the burden of proof goes and likely will again. No worries. He's showing them that his client is innocent, not just not guilty. Even if they don't believe him about innocence, he's also shown them he's not guilty.

Good Morning liesel,

Yes, I'm nervous. I will be calling my 28 yr. old son who lives in Jacksonville and telling him he needs to stay home this weekend, watch the TV and see how things unfold. I feel like we have become hostages for home grown terrorists.

Amazing how quiet my usual twitterverse is -- tweets are basically repeating what MOM is saying/showing with very little comment. I hope it's a good sign.

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All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

I hear you. My daughter has a final in Tampa tomorrow. I'm very, very nervous for her, and for my husband if he ends up going with her. (They're still negotiating.)

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All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

9:11 a.m.
He says will show the jury beyond a reasonable doubt his client acted in self-defense.

He says he’ll start at the state’s claim Zimmerman was a cop-wannabe.

He says Zimmerman did want to be cop, and a prosecutor and help his community.

O’Mara says the jury heard from other witnesses it is a noble profession and it supports the contention that he is willing to protect.
He says the state had the obligation to show any piece of evidence that they could to show his actions were inappropriate and they decided to show them two professors.

The other professor talked about self-defense, O’Mara says.

He says the state showed them Zimmerman didn’t make it as a cop one time.

He points out the five phone calls to non-emergency and mentions the sixth one he submitted. He says it rounds it out.

He also submitted to evidence a pile of police reports of other things that happened in the past year at Retreat at Twin Lakes. He says they will show a lot of alarm calls, burglaries, the home invasion and a rash of people burglarizing homes and it will show the only people arrested were young black males.

He asks them to listen to the calls, saying Zimmerman never said “I hate young black males.”

“What have they shown you as to how he acted?”

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Surreptitious taping of prosecution? Oh yeah!

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All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

Good catch, SheStone. And great contrast to how Kathi Belich was reporting the jury's demeanor yesterday, iirc.

_________________
All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

9:25 a.m.
O’Mara says there is not a witness that said Zimmerman patrolled the neighborhood.

He says they have Bertalan and Zimmerman giving her a lock and offering that she can spend time with his wife.

Zimmerman was on his way to Target and saw someone he thought was suspicious and does what he was told to do and called the non-emergency number, he says.

He says Zimmerman knew he was being recorded and said what he said. He says his client stayed on the phone and cursed toward the people and it’s just happenstance that Martin matched the description.

O’Mara says Zimmerman never screamed, but the De la Rionda suggested he said it under his breath and the jury should assume that means guilt.

“The fact he was willing to saw it on a recorded call with law enforcement is evidence of non-guilt,” O’Mara says.

O’Mara shows a poster with the call and points marked out.

He points out to the jury the dispatcher said “let me know if he does anything else” twice.

He asks them to listen to the tape.

He asks if Zimmerman showed ill-will, spite and hatred when talking to the dispatcher.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Excellent photo of West, Rumpole. I mean, all of the screengrabs are good and I appreciate them, but this one you should send a copy to West after this is all over. Seriously. I really like how the photo captures his rapt attention. I'm picturing the jury in similar poses.

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All posts are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of Random Topics. Differences are allowed here.

Yes. As I recall from yesterday many tweets made it sound like some of the jurors were not as attentive.