---------- **
Win for defense: Jury to hear Martin's pot use By Graham Winch and Amanda Sloane updated 6:21 PM EDT, Mon July 08, 2013 NEED TO KNOW - HLN is covering the George Zimmerman trial live, gavel to gavel - Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012 [image: Win for defense: Jury to hear Martin's pot use] *Live blog of today's testimony begins below.* John Donnelly, a former Vietnam War combat medic, grew emotional on the stand in the George Zimmerman trial Monday as he explained why he thought the screams heard on a 911 call made the night Trayvon Martin died were made by his friend Zimmerman. Donnelly was just one of a slew of defense witnesses who testified on the trial’s 10th day about the controversial 911 call, which has become a key point of contention in the case. Choking back tears, Donnelly explained that the reason he could identify the screams is due to his experience with the fog of war. During combat, Donnelly had to recognize the screams of his fellow soldiers and run to them when they needed help. He said he has heard a 250-pound man scream like a little girl. *Vote here:* Do you think Zimmerman will have to testify in his defense?<http://www.hlntv.com/poll/2013/07/01/do-you-think-zimmerman-will-testify-his-own-defense/results> "In the midst of combat, there are a lot people yelling and screaming," said Donnelly. "Sometimes they are screaming for help." If the jury believes Zimmerman was screaming on the 911 call, it could buttress his claim that he was forced to shoot the teenager in self-defense. On the other hand, if the jury believes Martin was screaming on the 911 call, the jury may be convinced Zimmerman murdered the teenager. Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, is charged with second-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Martin in Sanford, Florida, on Feb. 26, 2012. He told police that night that the teenager looked suspicious and that there had been several break-ins in the neighborhood. The two got into a physical altercation, and Zimmerman said he was forced to draw his gun and kill Martin. Donnelly told the court that he views Zimmerman as a "son," but his close relationship with Zimmerman would not affect his testimony. Donnelly donated almost $3,000 to Zimmerman's defense fund and paid for $1,700 in suits for Zimmerman to wear during the trial. Donnelly's testimony Monday was preceded by that of four of Zimmerman's other friends, who all said that they also recognized the screams on the 911 call as Zimmerman's voice. During cross-examinations, prosecutors focused on potential bias -- due to their close relationships with the defendant -- on the part of the witnesses. Prosecutor John Guy asked Zimmerman's friend Geri Russo if she actually hoped that it was Zimmerman's voice on the 911 call to confirm her belief that the night watchman acted in self-defense. Russo said no, that he had no doubt it was Zimmerman's voice. *HLN's live-blogging Zimmerman's trial. Click here<http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/07/04/george-zimmerman-trial-trayvon-martin-day-9> for HLN's live blog of Friday's testimony. Read below for minute-by-minute updates:* *6:20 p.m. ET: *The defense expert has arrived. Defense attorney O'Mara and prosecutor Mantei are reviewing the computer reenactment. Once they're finished, the judge will be back on the bench to decide on its admissibility. *5:35 p.m. ET: *The judge recesses court until the witness gets there. She tells the attorneys to meet with him to resolve their questions. *5:31 p.m. ET:* The judge is back on the bench. Defense attorney O'Mara says the witness they're waiting on who created the animation is 10-15 minutes away. *5:10 p.m. ET:* The attorneys are at a sidebar. The judge has recessed court for 15 minutes so the attorneys can discuss an animation. *5:08 p.m. ET: *The judge won't allow a defense witness to testify that Zimmerman was reasonable in his use of deadly force and that he didn't break the law. *4:59 p.m. ET: *Prosecutor Guy says the marijuana results need to have a definite effect on a person -- "In this case, we just don't know." Guy says Martin wasn't swaying while in 7-Eleven. He says the defense is trying to "backdoor some very negative character evidence." The defense tells the judge it plans to have a witness testify on this matter Tuesday. The judge says the prosecution will have a chance to cross-examine the witness and call rebuttal witnesses. She will allow the testimony about Martin's toxicology results. *4:52 p.m. ET:* Defense attorney Don West says the medical examiner now says that THC from marijuana would have some affect on Martin's thinking. He also points out that Zimmerman said Martin looked like he was on "drugs or something." Martin was also swaying on surveillance video from 7-Eleven, according to West, and a lighter was found on him. He argues that the amount of marijuana found in Martin's system had some impact on his judgment and is very relevant to the case. *4:48 p.m. ET: *Prosecutor John Guy says toxicology results showing marijuana in Trayvon Martin's system should be excluded from trial. He says there isn't enough to show it had any affect on him the night he was shot and would be highly prejudicial. *4:44 p.m. ET:* The judge says she has reviewed Donnelly's deposition and the state had a chance to ask him about this background. She says she believes the defense should have told the state he had heard the 911 call but she won't strike Donnelly's testimony from the record. *4:42 p.m. ET:* O'Mara says both sides could have played the 911 call for Donnelly during the deposition but didn't. He says the prosecutors should have to show what, exactly, they would have done differently if they knew Donnelly heard the 911 call on Saturday and was planning to testify about it. *4:39 p.m. ET: *Mantei says intentionally keeping information from the prosecutors has hampered their ability to do a proper cross-examination. *4:37 p.m. ET:* Prosecutor Richard Mantei is explaining to the judge how not knowing about this witness's testimony hurts their case. He says they would have tried to postpone questioning him in front of the jury to explore certain issues in a deposition. The judge asks what difference it would make if Donnelly heard the tape for the first time in court instead. *4:32 p.m. ET:* The prosecution says it didn't know John Donnelly, who testified earlier today, was going to identify about the voice screaming on the 911 call as belonging to Zimmerman. In a deposition, Donnelly said he hadn't heard the calls. *4:29 p.m. ET: *The judge has excused the jurors for the day. Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The judge is hearing some legal matters now. *4:27 p.m. ET: *The possibility for influence in this case was potentially greater than other cases, according to Lee. He says that, if this were an investigation, they would question each family member separately. This witness has been excused. *4:24 p.m. ET:* Lee explains how they do photo line ups. Prosecutor de la Rionda has finished his cross-examination. *4:20 p.m. ET: *Lee says he believes the audio should have been played to the family members individually. He believes the 911 call was played to the family as a group in the mayor's office with no law enforcement officers present. He says he offered to be present but was excluded from the room. O'Mara has finished his direct examination. *4:18 p.m. ET:* Lee says he knew the 911 call was going to be released to the Martin family so they could hear it. If you're showing a photo lineup, you should show it to each person individually "so their decision is not influenced," according to Lee. He says a similar process should be done with audio. *4:14 p.m. ET:* The defense has called Bill Ray Lee Jr. to the witness stand. He is the former Chief of Police for the Sanford Police Department. *4:11 p.m. ET: *The police said Martin told them it wasn't his son screaming on the call.* *Martin says he never told his lawyer to say that the police had lied. Tracy Martin has been excused. *4:09 p.m. ET:* "You were playing that recording over and over. You were stilling dealing with his death?" asked de la Rionda, in reference to Martin listening to the call in the mayor's office. "Yes," said Martin. "I was just trying to figure out... why did the defendant get out of his vehicle and chase my son?" said Martin. The prosecutor has finished his questions. *4:07 p.m. ET: *"Basically what I was listening to, I was listening to my son’s last cry for help. I was listening to his life being taken and I was trying to come to grips with that, that Trayvon was here no more. It was just tough," said Martin. *4:05 p.m. ET: *"You still, at that time, were in denial in the sense of not wanting to believe your son was dead?" asked prosecutor de la Rionda. "Correct," said Martin. "You realized that that was the shot -- " said de la Rionda. "-- That killed my son, yes," said Martin. "Did you really know what to do at that point?" asked de la Rionda. "My world was, from that point until today, my world has just been turned upside down," said Martin. *4:01 p.m. ET:* The day after the shooting, officers came to Martin's home and asked him to identify his son because he didn't have identification on him. Prosecutor de la Rionda asks if police showed him a picture of his son's body on the ground. The defense objects and the attorneys are at a sidebar. *3:59 p.m. ET: *"It’s very difficult to believe that Trayvon’s not living. As I’ve said over and over, my best friend in life, and to have him gone is tragic," said Martin. *3:58 p.m. ET: *O'Mara asks Martin about listening to the tape with family members at the mayor's office. "After listening to the tape maybe 20 times, I said I knew it was Trayvon's voice. I didn't direct that towards any family members. Matter of fact, I think the family members had started leaving out the room. It was too much for them, they couldn't take it," said Martin. O'Mara has finished his direct examination. *3:54 p.m. ET: *The defense has called Trayvon Martin's father, Tracy Martin, to the stand. O'Mara is asking him about the voice heard screaming on the background of the call. "As best as I recall, after he played the tape he basically just said, 'Do you recognize the voice?'" said Martin. "And what was your response?" asked O'Mara. "My response was that I didn’t tell him, 'No that wasn’t Trayvon.' I think I kind of pushed away from the table and kind of shook my head and said, 'I can’t tell," said Martin. He says he has no knowledge of an enhanced version of the call and he didn't tell anyone he had listened to one. *3:50 p.m. ET:* The jury is being seated. *3:39 p.m. ET:* The judge is back on the bench and the attorneys are at a sidebar. *3:20 p.m. ET:* The judge has recessed court for 15 minutes. *3:19 p.m. ET: *When Zimmerman was last at the gym, Pollack says: "He had lost quite a bit of weight so he was in physically better shape but he still had a long way to go. He wasn’t shredded and ripped like a competitive fighter." He agrees with O'Mara that he would still consider Zimmerman to be "soft" at this point. This witness has been excused. *3:18 p.m. ET:* Pollack says Zimmerman was still working on his jab. "He had not gotten proficient, truly proficient, with any of it," said Pollack. "He was a hard worker but he was no an accomplished athlete in any shape or form." *3:17 p.m. ET:* Prosecutor Mantei has finished his cross-examination of Pollack. Defense attorney O'Mara is now asking more questions. *3:15 p.m. ET: *Pollack says Zimmerman did several months of grappling classes then switched to boxing classes when his school schedule changed. He would have done a max of six hours per week of classes. *3:13 p.m. ET: *Zimmerman would have learned foot work first, then how to hold his body position, then he would learn a jab, a straight right hand, then a hook and then combinations. *3:11 p.m. ET: *Pollack says you can't arm-lock somebody from the ground position. "You have to be extremely skilled," said Pollack and agreed that Zimmerman didn't have the skills for this maneuver. *3:10 p.m. ET: *"A one-minute round can seem like eternity if you’re not in condition for it," said Pollack. *3:09 p.m. ET: *Pollack says he wouldn't teach a beginner about the first blow strategy because they'd need the foundation first. He also says if you can't execute it well, it could leave you open to quick counter attack. *3:07 p.m. ET: *Zimmerman was 250-260 pounds when he joined the gym and lost between 50-80 pounds, according to Pollack. *3:06 p.m. ET:* Pollack says he doesn't know if Zimmerman joined another gym or was working out at home while taking a hiatus from his gym. *3:04 p.m. ET: *Pollack says he would describe Zimmerman as "non-athletic." "He was -- and I don’t really like to use this terminology – soft, just physically soft. He was an overweight, large man, and a very pleasant, nice man. But physically soft," said Pollack. O'Mara has completed his direct examination. *3:01 p.m. ET: *Pollack saw Zimmerman a few days after the shooting. "He had black eyes, his nose was scraped up, he had some bandages on his head… he looked emotionally traumatized," said Pollack. "He had the look of a human being who had been through an extremely traumatic experience and was traumatized from it." *2:58 p.m. ET: *Zimmerman was obese when he first came to the gym, according to Pollack. Both the dietary changes and exercise program helped Zimmerman get in better shape. Pollack wouldn't teach Zimmerman how to kick because "he didn't have a handle on punching." *2:57 p.m. ET: *On a scale of 1 to 10 in regards to boxing proficiency, Pollack gives Zimmerman a 0.5 when he first started. Pollack says Zimmerman never got in the ring -- "He wasn't skilled enough for that." After training, Pollack says of Zimmerman: "He's still learning how to punch, he didn't really know how to effectively punch." "Did he ever get to the point where he could box somebody else?" asked defense attorney O'Mara. "Absolutely not," said Pollack. *2:53 p.m. ET:* Pollack also gives Zimmerman "about a 1" on a scale of 10 when it comes to his overall athleticism. *2:52 p.m. ET:* Pollack said that after a year of training, he would give Zimmerman a 1 or 1.5 on a scale of 10 "It's not that he made such little progress, it's a tremendous amount of work," said Pollack. *2:51 p.m. ET: *Pollack gives Zimmerman a 0.5 on a scale of 10 before his training started. Pollack says Zimmerman trained for about a year, except for a few months of hiatus. He took classes on grappling, boxing and would occasionally come in on his own. *2:48 p.m. ET:* Zimmerman wanted to box, but the classes didn't fit his schedule, so Pollack had him start grappling. Zimmerman would have learned chokes, arm locks, leg locks -- "Basically make the person say, 'Uncle,'" said Pollack. Training sessions are normally two hours long and Zimmerman would have taken classes 2-3 times each week. *2:45 p.m. ET: *Pollack says he met Zimmerman in October 2010: "He came to the gym to lose weight and get in shape." Pollack says he put Zimmerman on a diet and started an exercise program, which was tailored around his schedule. *2:43 p.m. ET:* "When you’re on the top, you have gravity working for you. So if you strike downward, it’s going to be extremely effective for you," said Pollack. He also describes a term called "shrimping" where the person on the bottom tries to get free. *2:42 p.m. ET:* O'Mara gets on the ground and has Pollack show him a mounted position. Pollack says the knees of the person on top should be above the waist of the person on the bottom. He says the person on top has a better advantage from this position. *2:39 p.m. ET:* On the benefit of getting the first punch in, Pollack says: “If you’re effective with it, that’s going to put you in a much stronger position over your opponent.” *2:38 p.m. ET: *Defense attorney O'Mara asks Pollack about the term "ground and pound." Pollack says you have to get an opponent on the ground, keep them on the ground and start striking them from the top, downwards. "If you're effective with the first blow, that can effectively end the match immediately," said Pollack. *2:35 p.m. ET: *Pollack describes mixed-martial arts (MMA) as a "competitive fighting sport that has gotten extremely popular recently." You can fold kickboxing and wrestling into it, according to Pollack. *2:33 p.m. ET:* The defense has called Adam Pollack to the witness stand. He is a trainer and has owned a gym for 14 years. He says he has been involved in fight training for most of his life. *2:29 p.m. ET: *The attorneys are at a sidebar. *2:28 p.m. ET:* "To know that he was hearing the sound that ended his son’s life – it was tough to watch," said Singleton. She said Tracy Martin didn't lose it but you could see he was upset. She agreed with the prosecutor that he acted appropriately fo -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
