Witness: Capt. Alexis Francisco Carter

9:53 a.m.
Capt. Alexis Francisco Carter, a member of the U.S. Army, who taught criminal litigation.

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

Self Defense here, in the short description given by witness professor Carter, seems like it makes it a topic that benefits George through jurors simply thinking SELF DEFENSE.

WoW A Jag. Not easy to get in that unit.

"...mess up the recipe"

That sort of shoots down George being prep'd to make up a story!

9:56 a.m.
Mantei shows him a homework assignment Carter says was one given to all the students.

Carter says he remembers Zimmerman as one of the better students in the class.

He says he wanted to teach the students a more practical way so they could apply it to their own life.

Carter says they covered the Stand Your Ground law.

Mantei asks how long they spent covering self-defense.

Carter says it is one that he constantly iterated and something the students wanted to know about and were engaged in class discussion.

Mantei finishes questioning.

West cross examines.

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

...and the defense WANTED someone to testify about self defense!

Bernie, Bernie, Bernie ...you're batting 1000 so far!

West, ask specific self defense questions that he might have covered, those that apply to George!

So, let me get this straight... "You always remember your best students, blah blah" But he only taught one class for one semester? Is that right?

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

10:09 a.m.
Carter says the discussions focused on Florida would have been in the class.

West asks about statutes. He mentions the Florida statute of self-defense.

West asks if Carter is familiar with the self-defense law in Florida. Carter says yes.

Carter says Stand Your Ground is a nickname.

West asks about the Castle Doctrine becoming Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

He asks about the Castle Doctrine and the duty to retreat. Carter confirms.

West asks about the Stand Your Ground law moving that concept to outside the home. Carter confirms.

West asks about it being outside and an accessing an attack before resorting to force.

Mantei objects and the attorneys approach for a sidebar.

10:04 a.m.
West points out Zimmerman at the defense table. “How you doing George?” Carter asks.

Carter says he only taught one class and was also working as a public defender in Orange County night circuit. He then left for JAG Corps training.

Carter says the public defender job was his first as a lawyer.

He says the “cool” thing about teaching is it reinforced everything he needed for his job.

“It’s been said there is law in the books and law in action,” Carter says.

Carter says all facts have significance, but certain things through case law have been given more weight.

West asks about his current work.

Carter says he is prosecuting. He says the JAG Corps is set up to put him in a certain position and they move you throughout your career.

West asks about the class. Carter says the book was suggested and used by the previous professor.

He says he thinks the book referenced some states, but doesn’t remember Florida.

Carter says he tried to supplement the book with other materials and discussion with a Florida distinction because he felt it was important.

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

Yep, Bernie did it again! I'm not sure how Nelson can stop West from going all over the place on SELF DEFENSE!

THE STATE OPEN THIS CAN OF WORMS!

West taking the opportunity to explain SYG and self defence....

Weasel getting the pip... objects


DRINK

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

Good point, kbp and Rumpole, and one not lost on the weasel who is trying to shut down discussion/explanation of self defense.

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

Was that the Weasel screaming HELP HELP?

I notice West (and MOM) ignoring Nelson when it comes to approaching witnesses.. not bothering to ask her... she is becoming a bit of a joke anyway.. deserves zero respect.

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

BOMBSHELL - WFTV anchor, Warmoth, just suggested Carter seems "coached" because he injected SYG when it wasn't part of the question. Good catch. He's trying to emphasize SYG.

This guy looks so up and up, sounds so up and up, but there is something that bothers me. Maybe that he's testifying to something that shouldn't have been allowed. But I just have that sort of bad feeling about this guy.

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

OMG! There is evidently no question which side Carter is on NOW!

I have a GOOD feeling!

WOW this could be beautiful for the defense. the MAIN THING I have been worried about is that George would get convicted not because of the evidence, but because the jury would be too uninformed about how self defense actually works. About how no American citizen can be required by law to fight while having their path to escape blocked by their attacker, how that this is felony assault if someone takes away your ability to flee.

So brilliantly, the defense is going to use these witnesses to MAKE SURE the jury gets to get some deep discussion on how self defense works and basically how George used it properly. NO WONDER the state just objected. It hit them like a ton of bricks that their own witnesses are going to be used to make sure the jury understands the fine details, which is HUGE and the entire reason I was worried about the jury.

Now, the state is trying to say, I'm sure, that IT'S NOT FAIR that the defense gets to use our witness to teach the jury about self defense. We already know George used the self defense law properly, our main worry should be that the jury won't understand that. and now West is using this to teach the jury about it, BEAUTIFUL.

How can the state object when they haven't "CONNECTED THE DOTS"? The defense can say, well since they haven't connected those dots, what are we supposed to cross about if not what he was teaching? BEAUTIFUL