(CBS) SANFORD, Fla. - Opening statements are scheduled to start today
in the case of George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch
volunteer accused of murder in the shooting death of unarmed Florida
teen Trayvon Martin last year.
PICTURES: George Zimmerman in court
READ: Trayvon Martin Shooting: A timeline of events
The high-profile, racially-charged case has drawn the national and
international spotlight, and for six jurors and four alternates chosen
Thursday, sequestration began this weekend. The jurors will be allowed
limited contact with friends, family, and the outside world. However,
they will have monitored entertainment and won't be exposed to media
reports on the case for the duration of the trial.
Central to the case will be who started the deadly altercation the
night of Feb. 26, 2012, whether George Zimmerman was acting in
self-defense and whether his shooting of Martin was justifiable under
Florida law.
For prosecutors, experts say opening statements will likely center on
Zimmerman's alleged profiling of Trayvon Martin, 17, as he walked
through the Sanford, Fla. gated community that evening. They'll likely
seek to indicate to the jury that Zimmerman labeled Martin as an
intruder and a potential criminal in the community, and then
confronted him, said David LaBahn, president and CEO of the
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.
"I think they've got a very solid case here - someone went and
confronted and killed an unarmed person, and did it in a mental state
of they were taking the law into their own hands," LaBahn said.
VIDEO: George Zimmerman trial: Self-defense, murder at case's core
In order to prove second-degree murder, prosecutors must prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that Martin's death was caused by Zimmerman's
alleged criminal action, and that the killing was committed with
ill-will or spite and showed an indifference to human life.
Prosecutors may point to a phone call Zimmerman placed to
non-emergency dispatchers the night of the deadly altercation in
attempting to prove Zimmerman was acting with ill will, LaBahn said.
As Zimmerman called the dispatchers to report a suspicious person,
Zimmerman said Martin "looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs
or something" and later used the term "a**holes."
While prosecutors may allege Zimmerman labeled Martin as a criminal,
LaBahn said they likely won't argue he racially profiled Martin, who
was black, in an attempt to keep the facts "straightforward" for the
jury. Use of the term "racially profiled" in opening statements was
disallowed last week in a key ruling by Circuit Judge Debra Nelson,
although Nelson said that prosecutors won't be barred from using words
including "profiled," "wannabe cop" and "vigilante" - language the
defense argued could be inflammatory.
PICTURES: George Zimmerman Crime Scene Photos
"If I'm the state in this case, I want to make this case very simple -
it's not about Trayvon Martin or about George Zimmerman. Those two
names have a brand and they have an identity - this is a case about an
unarmed kid in the vicinity of George Zimmerman and he did absolutely
nothing to cause him to be in fear," said Brian Tannebaum, president
of the Florida Association of Bar Defense Lawyers and past president
of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "If I start
adding to it, then I start opening the door to other issues and I
start creating other emotions and other thoughts about racism."
Meanwhile, the defense in their opening statement will seek to
demonstrate that Zimmerman was acting in self-defense after he was
attacked by Martin, experts say. Florida's controversial "stand your
ground" statute means that a person isn't required to retreat first
when confronted by a threat, but can respond with deadly force if they
believe their life is in danger.
"You'll have his attorneys making the argument that Trayvon presented
a threat to him, and he didn't have to back down from the threat under
Florida law," said California criminal defense attorney Michael
Cardoza.
The defense may also point to evidence including photos of George
Zimmerman bleeding from the face after the altercation to bolster
their case, and may call Zimmerman to the stand to testify during the
trial, Tannebaum said.
In another key ruling, Nelson on Saturday said that prosecution audio
experts who said Trayvon Martin was screaming in the background of a
neighbor's 911 call moments before he was killed won't be allowed to
testify at trial.
The screams could be crucial pieces of evidence for the jury in
weighing who was the aggressor in the confrontation, but experts have
come to mixed conclusions about who was screaming in the background of
the call.
One state expert claimed that he heard Martin saying "I'm begging
you." Defense experts have said the quality of the tape was too poor
to determine who was screaming, and on Thursday, defense attorney Don
West said any attempt to analyze the call reliably would be a "fool's
errand."
Nelson ruled that the methods used by the state experts aren't
reliable, but her ruling doesn't prevent the 911 calls from being
played at trial, the Associated Press reports.
Attorneys initially anticipated the trial to last two to four weeks,
but the elimination of the audio experts will likely shorten the trial
by a week, according to the AP.
By CBS News
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