Testimony: Day 8

Scientific evidence dominated the George Zimmerman trial today. Crime lab analyst Anthony Gorgone testified that Trayvon Martin’s DNA was not found on the handle of George Zimmerman’s 9mm weapon. Zimmerman had said Martin was reaching for his gun. And a man who testified that he was Zimmerman’s “best friend” wrote in a book that Martin grabbed Zimmerman’s gun.

Gorgone also testified that Zimmerman’s DNA was found on the sweatshirt Martin wore under his hoodie. But the testing found very little of Martin’s DNA on Zimmerman’s red jacket and there was no of Martin’s DNA on the shirt of Zimmerman wore under the jacket.

Another crime lab analyst told jurors that Trayvon Martin suffered a “contact shot” the night he was killed by Zimmerman. Crime lab analyst, Amy Siewert, told jurors the teenager’s hoodie bore evidence that the gun Zimmerman used was “up against the sweatshirt” when he fired. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s parents, listened intently as the analyst explained her findings.

The prosecution won the right to show Zimmerman’s application for a police officer’s job in Virginia, Zimmerman’s request to ride along with police on patrol, and some of Zimmerman’s college course work. Prosecutors have described Zimmerman as a “wannabe cop.”

One of Zimmerman’s instructors at Seminole State College testified that he taught Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law in his criminal litigation class because he thought students could “take something from it and apply it to their lives.” Captain Alexis Carter, who is a military prosecutor, said he discussed the law several times in the class because it was “practical and students were engaged.” Captain Carter described Zimmerman as “one of the better students in the class.” Zimmerman made an “A” in the class.

Another professor who taught on online class taken by Zimmerman testified that via webcam that the coursework included lessons on criminal profiling, but there was not any class discussion on the topic. According to Scott Peasants, part of the “required reading” for his class included strategies for excelling as a witness. Pleasants testified that Zimmerman wrote that his career goal was to become an attorney and eventually a prosecutor.

The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Trayvon Martin was the prosecutions’ final witness. Dr. Shiping Boa testified the 17 year-old had “zero” chance of surviving that gunshot would he suffered. Dr. Boa told jurors he believed Martin lived one to ten minutes after he was shot in the heart. He added that Martin was “in pain, suffering.” But Dr. Boa emphasized he didn’t “believe he moved after the shot.” He added, “If he did move, it was very little.” Zimmerman had said Martin sat up he shot him and said, “You got me! You got me!”

With the autopsy photos projected on a large screen in the courtroom, Dr. Shiping Boa pointed out the gunshot wound in Martin’s chest. He testified there were “small abrasions” on two of Martin’s fingers, but there was no blood on the teenager’s hands, a finding that contradicts George Zimmerman’s claim that Martin beat his using a mixed martial arts move known as ground-and-pound. Other than the gunshot wound, Dr. Boa said there was no injury to Trayvon Martin. Dr. Boa testified that he was not able to say when the abrasion on Martin’s finger occurred. It “could have happened two hours before, could have happened during the fight, or after he was shot.”

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, told jurors the voice screaming for help on the 911 call is that of “Trayvon Benjamin Martin.” Defense attorney Mark O’Mara asked her if she was sure, and Fulton replied, “Absolutely!”