Prosecution finishes rebuttal in Zimmerman trial
By MIKE SCHNEIDER and KYLE HIGHTOWER, Associated Press
Jul 12, 2013 12:05 PM CDT
George Zimmerman wipes his face after arriving in the courtroom for his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., Friday, July 12, 2013. Zimmerman is charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)   (Associated Press)

A prosecutor in George Zimmerman's murder trial has ended his rebuttal, saying the neighborhood watch volunteer told a series of lies in his statements about shooting Trayvon Martin.

Prosecutor John Guy argued that Zimmerman repeatedly lied about the shooting of the unarmed 17-year-old Martin.

His rebuttal came after defense attorney Mark O'Mara said prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman committed second-degree murder.

Jurors are taking a lunch break, and when they return Judge Debra Nelson will read them jury instructions.

The six jurors will then begin deliberations.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

George Zimmerman's attorney told jurors Friday in closing arguments that they have proven the neighborhood watch volunteer's "pure, unadulterated innocence" of second-degree murder when he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Attorney Mark O'Mara told jurors the burden was on prosecutors, and said they hadn't proven Zimmerman's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. O'Mara said prosecutors built a case on a series of hypothetical "could've beens" and "maybes."

"If it hasn't been proven, it's just not there," O'Mara said. "You can't fill in the gaps. You can't connect the dots. You're not allowed to."

Prosecutor John Guy followed with a rebuttal, accusing Zimmerman of telling "so many lies." He said Martin's last feeling was fear.

"Isn't that every child's worst nightmare, to be followed on the way home in the dark by a stranger," Guy said. "Isn't that every child's worst fear?"

Guy said Zimmerman violated the cornerstone of neighborhood watch volunteer programs, which is to observe and report, not follow a suspect.

Zimmerman's account of how he grabbed his gun from his holster at his waist as Martin straddled him is physically impossible, Guy said.

"The defendant didn't shoot Trayvon Martin because he had to, he shot him because he wanted to," Guy said. "That's the bottom line."

One juror, a young woman, appeared to wipe away a tear as Guy said nothing would ever bring back Martin.

The six jurors could begin deliberating Friday. Because there were no eyewitnesses, the panel of six women will likely rely heavily on testimony _ which was often conflicting _ from police, neighbors, friends and family members. They will have to decide if they can determine who was yelling for help on a 911 call that recorded the shooting, and whether Zimmerman was a wannabe cop who took the law into his own hands or someone who was in a fight for his life, with his head being repeatedly slammed into the ground.

Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the February 2012 shooting, but the jury will also be allowed to consider manslaughter. Under Florida's laws involving gun crimes, manslaughter could end up carrying a penalty as heavy as the one for second-degree murder: life in prison.

O'Mara dismissed the prosecution's contention that Zimmerman was a "crazy guy" patrolling his townhome complex and "looking for people to harass" when he saw Martin, an unarmed black teenager. O'Mara also disputed prosecutors claim that Zimmerman snapped when he saw Martin because there had been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood, mostly by young black men.

Zimmerman at no point showed ill will, hate or spite during his confrontation with Martin, which is what prosecutors must prove for second-degree murder, O'Mara said.

"That presumption isn't based on any fact whatsoever," O'Mara said.

O'Mara also told jurors to ask themselves what Martin was doing during the four minutes from when he started running at the urging of a friend he was talking to on a cellphone to when he encountered Zimmerman. Martin was planning his attack instead of going back to the townhome where he was staying, O'Mara said. The defense attorney let four minutes of silence pass to emphasize the amount of time.

"The person who decided ... it was going to be a violent event, it was the guy who decided not to go home when he had a chance to," O'Mara said.

The defense attorney bolstered his arguments with a poster-board timeline of events, a power point-presentation showing witnesses who had testified and a computer-animated depiction of the fight based on Zimmerman' account. O'Mara placed two cardboard cut-outs of Zimmerman and Martin in front of jurors to show Martin was considerably taller than Zimmerman, although Zimmerman was much heavier. Later, he carried a block of concrete and put it in front of the jury box to show how it can be used as a weapon.

To invoke self-defense, Zimmerman only had to believe he was facing great bodily harm, O'Mara said. He asked jurors not to let their sympathies for Martin's parents interfere with their decision.

"It is a tragedy, truly," O'Mara said. "But you can't allow sympathy."

O'Mara's conversational style contrasted prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda's booming presentation a day earlier.

De la Rionda said in his closing argument that Zimmerman assumed Martin was a criminal who was up to no good when he confronted him in his neighborhood. A scuffle followed, and Zimmerman fired his gun.

"A teenager is dead. He is dead through no fault of his own," de la Rionda said. "He is dead because a man made assumptions. ... Unfortunately because his assumptions were wrong, Trayvon Benjamin Martin no longer walks this Earth."

Judge Debra Nelson's ruling to allow consideration of the manslaughter charge came despite the objections of Zimmerman's lawyers.

To win a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors must prove Zimmerman showed ill will, hatred or spite. De la Rionda argued Zimmerman did that when he whispered profanities to a police dispatcher over his cellphone while following Martin through the neighborhood. He said Zimmerman "profiled" the teenager as a criminal.

Allowing the jurors to consider manslaughter could give those who aren't convinced the shooting amounted to murder a way to hold Zimmerman responsible for the death of the unarmed teen.

To get a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors must show only that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification.

As the nation awaits a verdict in the trial, police and city leaders in Sanford and South Florida say they have taken precautionary steps for the possibility of mass protests or even civil unrest if Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, is acquitted, particularly in African-American neighborhoods where passions run strongest over the case.

There were massive protests in Sanford and other cities across the country when authorities waited 44 days before arresting Zimmerman.

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Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/khightower.

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP.

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