tonyparra

The main witness for the prosecution was Rachel Jeantel, the last person besides George Zimmerman to talk to Trayvon Martin before he was killed. Her testimony was crucial to the fabric of the prosecution?s case. She testified that she was on the phone with Trayvon and that he was afraid of a creepy man following him. Trayvon ran from the man who chased him and was finally accosted by him. Jeantel testified that she heard Trayvon say ?get off, get off,? indicating that a struggle ensued by that point. This is important to establish the foundation of the prosecution?s case.

It shows that Trayvon was running and attempting to get away from Zimmerman, which are important facts to show that Zimmerman was the aggressor.

Another prosecution witness, John Good, testified that he was a witness to the fight that ensued between Zimmerman and Trayvon. Although the prosecution called him, it appeared that Good helped the defense with his testimony. Good testified that he saw two men tussling and the man on top appeared to be a darker skinned man and the man on bottom was lighter skinned. Essentially, his testimony is stating that Trayvon was on top of Zimmerman. Additionally, he concluded the screams for help came from Zimmerman and not Trayvon, since the screams would logically be from the person on the bottom. However, he is not certain.

As we all know, a person can start a fight but may not win. Since Zimmerman was trained in MMA (Mixed Marital Arts), he may have thought he had the skill to beat Martin. However, when the tables were turned while Martin defended himself, Zimmerman shot and killed the unarmed youth.

Another former neighbor of Zimmerman named Jonathan Manalo testified. He testified that Zimmerman did not appear in shock shortly after the shooting and was very calm. Manalo called Zimmerman?s wife to let her know what happened and while he was on the phone giving her details of how the shooting occurred, Zimmerman dryly said, ?Just tell her I shot someone.?

This is important because the jury considering this case may feel Zimmerman appeared cold. This characterization would be extremely harmful to the defense.

Other key testimony came from Lindzee Folgate, a family practice physician assistant who treated Zimmerman for injuries. She testified about Zimmerman?s wounds and that he was training in MMA three days per week. That was harmful to the defense because it showed that Zimmerman was training as a fighter. This appears to go with the theory of the prosecution that Zimmerman was overzealous and attempted to fight Martin, was losing the fight, and finally shot to kill him.

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