Legal commentator Dan Abrams has said he cannot see how George Zimmerman would be convicted of second degree murder or even manslaughter in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
Speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America” he said Irish American attorney Mark O’Mara’s client, Zimmerman, could be in the clear because of “the legal standard and evidence presented by prosecutors it is difficult to see how jurors find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that it wasn't self defense.”
On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin (17) was shot and killed by George Zimmerman (then 26) in a suburb of Sandford, Florida. Zimmerman’s defense is arguing that their client shot in self defense.
As Abrams puts it, the prosecution “have the burden to prove that Zimmerman did not "reasonably believe" that the gunshot was "necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm" to himself. That is no easy feat based on the evidence presented in their case. Almost every prosecution witness was called to discredit the only eyewitness who unquestionably saw everything that occurred that night, George Zimmerman.”
Put plainly, “if there is reasonable doubt, the defense wins”.
The prosecution now rests as Mark O’Mara’s team begins to call the defense witnesses to the stand. O’Mara may call on some of the 38 witnesses called by the state’s prosecutors including Martin’s girlfriend, mother and Zimmerman’s mother.
It seems that O’Mara’s defense will continue to focus on self defense. Last week O’Mara told USA today, “There's enormous evidence that my client acted in self-defense...There is no other reasonable hypothesis."
On Monday witnesses were called to the stand over the disputed audio from a 911 call. The defense disagree with the prosecution and claim the voice heard is that of Zimmerman screaming for help.
The case continues.
Here’s ABC’s video report:
Here’s USA Today’s coverage from Monday:
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