the voice belongs to zimmerman. zimmerman's family also said it was him. the next day, a forensic expert says the evidence supports zimmerman's story. the defense rests on wednesday. george zimmerman tells the judge that he won't take the stand. that the prosecution gets closing arguments. the judge says she will allow the jury to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter but rules out third-degree murder. finally, yesterday, the defense delivers its closing arguments. the judge gives the jury her final instructions and deliberations get under way. >> here's what we know about the six-member all-women jury. a juror number one, hispanic nurse with several children and she lived in chicago at the time of the shooting. juror number two, middle-aged white woman. married 30 years, with children. one child by the way is an attorney. and juror number three, another middle-aged white woman and is described as -- has described protests in sanford as rioting and her husband is an attorney. she also has children. juror number four, retired white woman. she knew a go

. >>> tonight, high drama in the george zimmerman trail. tray vob's mother testifying that the voice here on the 911 audiotape screaming in the background belongs to her dead son. and the attorney for trayvon's family is here to go on the record. >> have you ever heard him while he was growing up, heard him cry or yelling? >> yes. >> you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> there just were gun shots. >> just heard gunshots? >> yes. >> screaming or yelling, do you recognize that? >> yes. >> and who do you recognize that to be? >> trayvon benjamin martin. >> you know whose voice that was screaming in the background? >> yes, sir. >> whose voice was that? >> my son, george. >> are you certain of that? >> because he's my son. >> what was the manner of death, sir? >> the manner of death is home. he was killed by another person. he was still alive, and he was killed. he was suffering. >> objection. not a relevant issue. >> just a second. your objection is relevance? overruled. >> there's only one reason to squeeze the trigger at someone's heart and

state of florida versus george zimmerman. we the jury find george zimmerman not guilty. so say we all foreperson. >> welcome everybody to this special edition of new day. that was the moment we have all been waiting for. the reading of the verdict in the george zimmerman murder trial. jury's decision, you heard it, not guilty. some people expected it. many did not. thanks for joining us. i'm chris cuomo. >> i'm kate baldwin. it's 8:00 in the east on this sunday july 14th. thank you for joining us for "new day." it was inevitable after the verdict came down that one side would be happy and one side would express relief, declare justice -- they would also declare that justice had been done and they would want to move on. listen here. >> your bond will be released. your gps monitor will be cutoff when you exit the courtroom over here and you have no further business with the court. >> thank you, your honor. >> but we knew from the beginning if trayvon martin was allowed to be killed and the man that did it to not go to jail there would be outrage and there is. civil rights

zimmerman's behalf against others? >> absolutely. >> reporter: despite all the heated emotions this morning trayvon martin's family say they hope the country will collectively find a way to heal and change. >> just remember, trayvon could have been anyone in america's baby. >> reporter: how do you think this would have ended had george zimmerman not had a gun that night? >> i can tell you how it wouldn't have ended. it wouldn't have ended with a dead 17-year-old kid. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm matt gutman in sanford, florida. >> our thanks to matt. and time now for our closing argument. and trending on the web today, five crucial trial moments that may have led to the zimmerman acquittal. which do you think was most important to the jury? our number 1, lead police investigator chris serino was asked by the defense if he believed zimmerman was telling the truth. he said yes. although the judge later told the jury to disregard that answer. there was the moment that renowned forensics expert vincent demayo testified

zimmerman was acting in an angry way? >> not at all. >> so when asked the question could you hear those words being yelled by mr. zimmerman in the campaign event, i think you said no? >> no. >> but you have in fact heard him yell? >> absolutely. >> maybe happy yelling during a campaign? >> yes. >> vote for us, vote for my guy? >> yes. >> down with the other guy? >> pep rallies and such. >> as a matter of fact that's part of a campaign, isn't it? get everybody motivated? >> get everybody excited and motivated so i have heard him in that setting. >> so that's part of your testimony that you bring today, having heard mr. zimmerman scream even though in a happy way? >> yes. >> of course you have never heard him scream for his life before, have you? >> no. >> but you did hear him on that 911 call? >> yes, i did. >> we talked about, you were asked about continuous nature of the calling. i'm going to posit two different possibilities to see if we can get through them a little bit. >> yes, sir. >> if i were to scream one scream o

>> the joke was horrible. >> george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good, you're on the jury. >> nobody got it. i didn't get it until later. then i thought about it, and i'm like, i guess that could have been funny. but not in the context he told it. >> was there a particular witness that stands out to you? who did you find to be the most credible? >> the doctor -- i don't know his name. >> the doctor for the defense? >> yes. >> what about him? >> i thought he was awe-inspiring. the experiences he had had over in the war, and i just never thought of anybody that could recognize somebody's voice yelling in like a terrible terror voice when he was just previously half hour ago playing cards with them. >> that is george zimmerman. >> a lot of analysts watching the trial felt that the defense attorneys, marks o'mara, don west, were able to turn prosecution witnesses to their advantage. chris serino, the lead investigator for example, did he make an impression on you? >> chris serino did. but to me he just was doing his job. he was doing his job

zimmerman's -- >> on mr. zimmerman's -- >> i am asking your client a question, please, mr. west. >> i object to the court inquiring to mr. zimmerman about his decision whether or not to testify -- >> your objection is overruled. >> and then something you don't see every day. the judge literally walking out on attorney west while talking. >> court is in recess. i will give my ruling in the morning. i'll see you at 8:00 in the morning. court is in recess. >> it's 10:00 -- >> it's 9:56. court is in recess. thank you very much. with all due respect, we'll see you at 8:00 in the morning. >> i'm not physical able to keep up this pace much longer. it's 10:00 at night. we started this morning. we've had full days every day. weekends, depositions at night. >> the judge walked out. she was gone. all of this happened without the jury in the room. but with the defense closing argument tomorrow, could it have any impact on the outcome of the case? marcia clark, wow, what do you have to say about these exchanges? >> well, you know, things take place in a court of law. i can say that i've

zimmerman is on his mobile phone with folks from the police department, and zimmerman the person the police department sayings, are you following him, talking about trail -- trayvon martin? and zimmerman says, yeah, and the person from the police department said-we don't need you to do that, and then there's a good cop/bad cop thing going on, which isn't unusual. phil keeting is outside the courthouse. i guess the idea is to get truthful information from the person. >> and get a suspect to contradict himself or herself -- get down into the nitty-gritty. the detective said -- how zimmerman, who is 28 at the time, and martin was 17, didn't seem put up much of a fight other than eventually pulling out his gun after taking what he describe as a beating. he was afraid for his life by trayvon martin. also, doris singleton, the other cop, said, well, maybe trayvon martin, who was doing nothing wrong, he sees you and maybe he is scared, scared of you. you never identified yourself as what you're doing, why you're staring at him, trying to get zimmerman to answer details about that. and one k

and exonerated george zimmerman. reale talking about in a way is criminalization. we are talking about school to prison pipeline, zero-tolerance policies which are the reason is that of being in a restorative justice program in high school that trayvon martin was in the dead of night going to a store in orlando instead of being at his high school in miami. we are going to ask our commerce people to address stand your ground, which may not have had as much influence on this but creates an open season for young people of color. we're going to address the law enforcement who uses racial profiling to create a dragnet over our communities and strike fear in our communities. we're going to call on our congress people to come back to work because though george zimmerman was found guilty, florida is very guilty. >> we're going to take a break and then come back and also going to be joined by lisa graves of the center for media and democracy, who for the last year has been investigating alec . we're going to talk about the st

george zimmerman was on the bottom. and they tried to trick the jury, they tried to trick the public, in my opinion, as to what, in fact existed. all you have to do is talk -- >> that is absurd. >> i do not why understand in their opening statement they would say that george zimmerman was on top and trayvon martin was on the bottom if they knew this other evidence was out there and was going to come out in the grass stains and all that, and then switch half way through and say maybe he was on top pulling away. >> see, i didn't see it as a switch. there were several witnesses that testified that they believed it was george zimmerman on top. there was evidence to support their opening statement. >> right, but by the end they didn't talk about that. he was mounting that thing on the top. >> they were giving alternatives, and prosecutors do that all the time. they say okay, well, what about this? is it possible, mr. expert witness, that he could have been moving away? >> i went to the law school of law and order. so i have

zimmerman. >> what does that tell you? >> there were a lot of inconsistencies in george zimmerman's story and he did not find george zimmerman's version of what happened credible. and we've heard him say that today. and we have to remember that we can't consider his statement and testimony in a vacuum. we have to compare it with what we hear the other witnesses say to uncover george zimmerman's inconsils ten sis. >> the fact that he himself did not think that a second degree murder charge was warranted, doesn't that also tell you that given his look at the evidence, he actually thought that, as he's testified on the stand, that zimmerman was pretty credible in the things he said, that his story actually held up? >> not at all. because he said he was also in the initial stages of his investigation and it was pointed out today that detective serino had not considered all the evidence that the state attorney's office has considered. >> trayvon martin's parents have been to court every day, sometime

punched george zimmerman in the face. zimmerman thinking that he was dealing with a criminal, then acted in self defense to defend himself from what he thought was a deadly threat. there was, you know, there was fault on both sides but unfortunately, a 17-year-old is dead, and why? because there was a gun in the picture. what i take away from last night. every african-american that i have spoken to, sees their own children in trayvon martin. and says is, in america today, do we have to worry when our kid goes out that he will be shot? because someone thinks he is a burglar? and i know, if this case, i tried cases like this in new york, as a prosecutor. and we used to call it, if you bring a gun to a fight and you kill somebody, you will get convictimed of manslaughter, and there will not ab prosecutor holding a press conference as they did earlier this evening saying we support the right to bare arms. this is not about the right to bare arms. you never hear that in new york then talking about that. they do not believe in

zimmerman. so i would refer to them as insignificant injuries. >> reporter: on cross-examination, the defense attorney implied she owed her job to the special prosecutor in the zimmerman case, and then walked her back from some of her findings. >> it's your position at least consistent that george zimmerman may have only received as little as three -- did you call -- what term did you use? smashing? >> sir? >> slamming, three slamming into cement. >> i didn't use the word slamming. >> i'm sorry, i thought it was your word. >> no, i got that from the reenactment. >> what would you use to describe what happened to the head that you say hit cement? >> impact. >> impact. so it's your position that there are at least three impacts between that head and cement? >> yes. >> okay. >> concrete. >> reporter: earlier, zimmerman's best friend took the stand. it was he who first convinced zimmerman to buy a gun and housed zimmerman and shelley after the shooting and wrote a book about the case. >> you wrote a

got freed. >> zimmerman's attorney mark o'mara said zimmerman will have to be very careful about his safety because people won't listen to the not guilty verdict. chris cuomo spoke with mark o'mara earlier today. >> let's begun with what is all around us, the reaction. a lot of it outrage to the not guilty verdict. are you surprised by that part of the reaction? >> i'm a bit surprised that there is outrage because we had hoped that everybody would look at this case as being a very fair trial where both parties were represented well, where i think most, if not all of the evidence, came out. the jury took their time, deliberated, and came out with a fair and just verdict. we've all agreed that we should listen to a fair and just verdict. so i hope those people, even though they're frustrated, will accept the verdict. >> address the basic concern, which is your client, george zimmerman, wound up killing trayvon martin, and yet there is no legal responsibility, and people can't understand it. what are they missing? >> well, what they're missing is that george had an absolute right to be

verdict, we the jury find george zimmerman not guilty, so say we all floor person. >> george zimmerman now a free man. that means no more gps monitor. he's free to leave seminole county. zimmerman's attorney say no matter where he lives, what career he pursues, george zimmerman will be a marked man. right after the verdict people from across the nation protested, most peacefully but many had the same message, the system is broken. justice for trayvon martin has not been served. >> for them to use the sidewalk as a weapon now, saying your kid can walk down the street now, not doing anything, just go to the store and somebody can get in a fight with them. a grown man can get in a fight with your kid. they can have a gun. now your defense is you picked up a sidewalk and beat this head in. that's not right. it's open season on all our kids now. it was a travesty of justice this time. i really believe we should change these laws. >> i think this was a mistake. i don't know if it was prosecution or if it was jury but it was a mistake. >> i don't blame every white person in seminole county fo

zimmerman? >> because it's too speculative. i mean, what something might have been, could have, should have, would have, we don't generally get into that in a court of law. this is an expert. sometimes experts can do that. i think it's too speculative. >> so that sort of violates some of the boundaries that have been set. obviously, we know that lawyers know that. tell us what you think was the strategy in trying to ask that question. what's the next injury to mr. zimmerman? >> because the defense is trying to show that these injuries were not necessarily life threatening, and mark o'mara said that on cross-examination, essentially saying we never said that, we never said life threatening. the defense wants the jury to put it all together, that he was on the ground, he was getting his head pounded, perhaps only once or twice, perhaps he only got punched in the face once or twice, perhaps he was threatened by trayvon martin, but they want the jury to put all of that together and to create a scena

that george zimmerman was lucky. i understand why angela cory would say what comes to her mind, murderer. i can understand that. >> i don't understand that. she's a prosecutor. she's got a certain -- supposed to have some ethics, which obviously she doesn't. supposed to be competent. you heard the juror say they played over and over the reenactment by george zimmerman. jeff, i think she will back me up but for these incompetent prosecutors putting it in there. >> big mistake by the prosecutors to put all those tapes in. they thought, oh, they'll show all these inconsistencies. >> they rewatched that. >> i agreed with her on that. >> that does it for this special edition of "360." join us tomorrow night. we'll have more of my interview with job b-37. also 10:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow, a special edition "race and justice in america," it an "ac360" town hall. you don't want to miss it, tomorrow night 10:00 eastern right here on cnn. [ female announcer ] last day, deb. checking out of the hilton shouldn't be a pity party.

, the verdict, we jury find george zimmerman not guilty. >> the verdict is in britain george zimmerman is acquitted for the shooting death of trayvon martin, an unarmed african-american teenager in florida. the verdict sparked protests around the country. >> we still today want justice. >> we still today want justice. >> and we will not be satisfied until justice is obtained. >> and we will not be satisfied until justice is obtained. ofwe will speak with some those in the streets and to the reverend jesse jackson as well as philip agnew, head of the dream defenders, a coalition of young people of color in florida, formed after trayvon martin's death. 2013 and beyond, it is in europe propelled by black and brown youth in our formative years criminalized, marginalized , cast aside and forgotten. we found strength in our struggles, determination. we are good kids growing up in bad states. >> all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across the country following the

rao d zimmerman-style injury. was the suggestion -- was the prosecution looking for a suggestion there that george zimmerman may have self-inflicted that injury to his face? >> i don't think the prosecution is going that far. but what i think they're trying to do is show that based on this doctor's testimony, there is simply no way that george zimmerman could have sustained a beating he alleged he sustained at the hands of trayvon martin based on his injuries. she described them as minor and insignificant. and in fact they could be sustained from one punch. that is very different from what we've heard in the past few days from george zimmerman's own statements where he said his head was repeatedly slammed against the concrete. he almost lost consciousness, he was hit between 25 and 30 times. what they will argue, he embellished his story, lied to po why is he doing that? because he is trying to cover up for his own wrongdoing, his guilt. >> and am i correct that the most mark o'mara to get the number of blows up t

zimmerman's account. that's all. >> but it's also consistent with trayvon martin pulling back in terms of the same angle. >> i told you that too, yes. >> by all accounts, this was a brief confrontation. but those last few moments are the heart of this case. joining me now, former prosecutor faith jenkins, msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom and defense attorney ken padowitz. thank you all for being here. >> thank you. >> ken, let me go to you first. in your view, is today's testimony a win for the defense, or does the jury put it all together and cancels it out? >> well, quite frankly, i think it was a win for the defense, absolutely. this was a very, very strong witness. this expert is a renowned expert. he came across as a very experienced testifier in court, and this guy knows what he is talking about, as his presence indicated to the jury. he knew the medicine. he knew the science, and he applied it to the facts in this case. he was a very, very good witness. and the prosecution's cross examine fell a litt

zimmerman, correct? >> yes, sir. >> of course. you knew that john good. >> may we approach the bench? i apologize. >> we are watching the trial of george zimmerman who is charged with second degree murder in the death of trayvon martin. we have a sidebar. that's our opportunity to go back and discuss what we're larry. lisa bloom, can you explain where it appears the defense attorney is trying to going with officer serino? he's sort of trying to establish the way he questioned george zimmerman. >> right so police officers are allowed to bluff, even lie when they're investigating people in the united states. they can say we have a videotape that shows otherwise. and try to get somebody to make an admission. they can do that. it's perfectly legal. it's done all the time. it's a legitimate investigative technique. sometimes injuries don't like it. and the defense attorney is trying to point out out george zimmerman was read his rights, he knew he had a right to stop the questioning at any point and he waived that. he voluntarily spoke

zimmerman's account that he -- that mr. martin was over him leaning forward at the time he was shot. >> i want to bring in our legal panel to go over some of these key moments of the day. specifically linda kenney baden is our guest along with jean casarez and sunny hostin. considering how respected mr. di maio is, literally the guy who wrote the textbook on forensic pathology, how do you counter that? how do you counter what he is saying? >> i think you do exactly what the state did. they countered him using their theory of the case. for the defense, jake, this is all about self-defense so they want their experts to get into how close they were, who was on top, who was on the bottom. for the prosecution, their entire theory is about who started this fight, who was the initial aggressor. so that is what the ruprosecuti did the minute they got up. they said you're not testifying about who started the fight, you can't tell who threw the first punches, isn't that right? and it went on and on and on like that. the prosecutor ev

and judge nelson agreed and george zimmerman -- word defendant, rather, will be replaced by george zimmerman. so this will take a uncan ehe will couple of hours. >> craig melvin, thank you so much. let's bring in lisa bloom. let's talk about the ruling and how significant it is whether to allow lesser charge. >> hugely significant. the defense is taking the gamble on all or nothing proposition. either murder or an acquittal. the prosecution is saying no, we want space in the middle for a manslaughter or aggravated assault conviction. the jury is not supposed to compromise. they're supposed to find every element of any crime for which they find this defendant guilty, but in reality, every courtroom lawyer knows they often do compromise. maybe jurors who want murder conviction, jurors who want acquittal, they split the difference on a lesser charge. >> let's talk about the closing arguments. what's the strength of the state's case, what would you emphasize if you were making the argument? >> first of all, if you haven't watched this trial in detail, this is the part to watch. the closing argum

state versus george zimmerman. >> reporter: the prosecution wants to see george zimmerman behind bars for the rest of his life. but to do so, they need to get a second degree murder conviction. and to do that, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that zimmerman intended to kill trayvon martin out of hatred. >> trayvon martin was murdered. in the back of two sets of town homes, there's no street lighting back there. there's no pole lights. there were one or two porch lights on. >> george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. >> reporter: but if the prosecutors see their case slipping away, there is another option that could still put zimmerman behind bars for years. if requested, and allowed by the judge, the prosecutors can ask the jury to consider lesser charges, like aggravated assault, which still carries the potential for decades in prison, due to a florida state statute called the 10-20 life law. it's dubbed the "use a gun and you're done" law after a popular pfa campaign that newly elected govern

zimmerman for six hours. he had complied with every request that they wanted, all the interviews they wanted. had they asked him for a blood test, he would have given it, the police have responded to that criticism by saying, look, we request drug screens when they seem to be appropriate, is there any indication whatsoever that the person might be impaired, and in george zimmerman's case, there's no evidence, or indication whatsoever that he might have been impaired. on the other hand, trayvon martin's toxicology, every deceased person who goes to the medical examiner has blood pulled and toxicology is run. >> to some of the more difficult exchanges between you and trayvon martin's grieving parents it can't be easy to be an attorney in your position to cross examine without the witness. >> you didn't listen to ben crump on the 27th or 28th? he wasn't your attorney on that day? >>, he wasn't. >> later did you instruct him to say police lied when they said you had said no about hearing your son's voice? did you

zimmerman with mr. zimmerman on his back, consistent with the forensic evidence that you found at the time of the shot? >> yes, sir. >> that statement, i take it, is separate and apart from mr. zimmerman's statement describing essentially the same thing. >> right. but again, i would not have used that to give my opinion. i have to use the physical evidence in conjunction with the statement of mr. zimmerman. >> the -- you pointed out in your direct evidence that there were two lacerations on the back of mr. zimmerman's head and that you testified that you believed those two have been from separate impacts. >> yes, sir. >> because you could see the sort of valley in between. >> yes, sir. >> those were the two blows that created the lacerations. >> right, in addition they were so separate that if you impacted one, you couldn't get the other one. so there were two reasons. >> your testimony was that was consistent with having mr. zimmerman's head struck at least twice on a surface like concrete. >> objectio

they said, oh, yeah, that's george zimmerman. i know for sure that's george zimmerman. just as background they talked about their relationship with him, what a great guy he is, what a great friend. one of them talked about how he taught george zimmerman how to tie a windsor knot on a tie. we heard about that, but technically they weren't character evidence. you're right. this is a great argument the prosecution can make. the defense went into this. it was character evidence. now we should be able to bring in the negative stuff about george zimmerman. so far the judge has not ruled that they can. >> lisa, this is patrick murphy. those six witnesses that the defense called up today that basically said this was not george zimmerman, they all had a personal relationship. what effect do you think that has on a jury? do you think they'll see through the system? >> absolutely. they said it is george zimmerman. we have seven defense witnesses, all of whom had a personal relationship with george zimmerman, saying that's him screaming on the 911 call for help. we have three prose

he accuses him of smearing zimmerman and without his actions zimmerman never would have been charged. how do you respond? >> let's take our time and go through. i think it's very important. remember, and i remember when ben first came back to our firm, this guy had killed trayvon martin and the sanford police department were getting ready to close their investigation, and they indicated that they were not going to arrest this guy. and we believe wholeheartedly that if you kill an unarmed teenager, you at a minimum ought to be arrested. now, mr. o'mara may have philosophical problems with that, but in our business we're civil rights lawyers, and when someone kills someone who is unarmed, that person should go into our justice system and go through that process. that is not a decision that should be made by one or two people. it's a decision that should be made by the process, and that's what we argued for, and so we have not done anything to talk about anyone but to make sure that this process box. >> now o'mara also says that the smear campaign, the publicity campaign labeled george z

zimmerman that mr. zimmerman is not a part of law enforcement. he was operating with law while being out of order. the 911 dispatcher said stay in the car. had he in fact followed -- >> no, the 911 dispatcher said we don't need to you do that, and that is not a lawful order. >> i don't want to go back over the case. i really want to center on what lessons should be learned from this trial and what happened and what we should center on. and i'm asking david -- >> let me try to answer your question. then let me try to answer your question. we have real issues of racism in this country that need to be addressed. they are minimized when you have a constant ongoing 40-plus-year line. we've evolved as a country. but that evolution is never taken into account when it comes to what certain quarters want to push, which is it's always all about, or the dominant issue is race. we need to talk about what children are doing, what education is doing, what needs to be done in the black community to give them better options. they don't deserve to be profiled. th

>> there were a lot of inconsistencies in george zimmerman's story and he did not find george zimmerman's version of what happened credible. and we've heard him say that today. and we have to remember that we can't consider his statement and testimony in a vacuum. we have to compare it with what we hear the other witnesses say to uncover george zimmerman's inconsistencies. >> the fact that he himself did not think that a second degree murder charge was warranted, doesn't that also tell you that given his look at the evidence, he actually thought that, as he's testified on the stand, that zimmerman was pretty credible in the things he said, that his story actually held up? >> no, not at all. because he said he was also in the initial stages of his investigation and it was pointed out today that detective serino had not considered all the evidence that the state attorney's office has considered. >> trayvon martin's parents have been to court every day, sometimes been quite emotional. how are they doing at this point? are they confident with the prosecution's case thus far? >> they're confid

>>> state of florida versus george zimmerman verdict we the jury find george zimmerman not guilty. so say we all, foreperson. >> geraldo: george zimmerman dramatically but not unexpectedly found not guilty. not innocent. he wasn't found innocent. he was found not guilty. not guilt in i am sure when the jurors finally speak and they have told us they are not in the mood to speak tonight will tell us i think that they believe that george zimmerman was responsible obviously for the death of this unarmed youngster but did not commit is a crime. how did this case come to the place that it came? how did it occupy everyone from the white house to the governor's office. rick scott's office here in florida to the appointment of the special prosecutor. how did it become and ben crump the family attorney's words the civil rights case of the 21st century. in my friend and colleague phil keating has been tracking it throughout. so tell us, brother, how did it -- describe this evolution from tragedy to political extravaganza? >> really started very slowly a crescendo in the month of march of 201

you said you would eat your hat if george zimmerman took the stand. i'm sure you're pleased you don't have to do that. >> the one thing i'm not pleased about is i raised the odds from 50 to 100 to 1 and nobody would take me up on it and i'm disappointed. i would have made enough money to have bought jeff's new paper back that came out yesterday. >> thank you for the plug. jeff, we have this digital dash borpd question, how much of an impact will zimmerman make not taking the stand. nobody thought there was a good chance of him taking the stand. >> there is a great question that comes up in every criminal case. the judge instructs the jury to draw no inferences from the fact the defendant didn't firefighter. he has an absolute right. the burden of proof is on the prosecution but there is an expectation that a defendant gets on the witness stand and says i didn't do it to jurors. i think in this case since the jury has heard so much from george zimmerman, whether it's these videotaped interviews with fox news and the like, i think his failure to testify

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right. good. you're on the jury. nothing? that's funny. >> a lot of people didn't find it funny, and defense attorney don west ended up apologizing later. other key moments, testimony from neighbors who witnessed part of the fight and called 911. we heard screaming in the background and the gunshot that ended trayvon martin's life. >> i can't see him. i don't want to go out there. i don't know what's going on. >> so you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> all right. what is your -- [ gunshot ] >> there's gunshots. >> there's two guys in backyard with flashlights. >> okay. >> and there's a black guy down. it looks like he's been shot and he's dead. >> okay. >> he's laying and there's multiple people calling right now i'm thinking. >> and, of course, the star witness for the prosecution, rachel jeantel, trayvon martin's friend, who was defiant and later criticized for her attitude in court. we want to warn you, some of the language you're about to hear may be offensive. >> describe iing the person is t made you think it was rac

what it proves is that if george zimmerman, if people understand that george zimmerman that trayvon martin grabbed him by the head in a manner that might have caused george zimmerman's dna to get under his nails and slammed his head into the sidewalk you might expect some amount of dna to be under his fingernails, but it also might not. so i have to say, it's helpful to the prosecution and it's not a slam dunk and not a big ticket item and it is something to add to the evidence flat prosecution has presented to show that the contact might not be as zimmerman described. >> mike geragos, do you think this was ultimately a wash? the defense was able to get the dna expert to basically say just the fact that he couldn't find dna didn't mean there wasn't trayvon martin's dna on the holster and the gun? >> i do think it's a wash. i can't tell you, lawrence will tell you how many times you will see and especially with guns and depending on what with the kind of surface is of it . it's very difficult to know when someone handles that gun to pick up the dna off of it or the fingerprints off of it or

would george zimmerman take the stand? and today judge nelson asked him directly. >> have you made a decision? >> yes, your honor. >> what is your decision, sir? >> after consulting with counsel, not to testify, your honor. >> is it your decision not to testify in this case? >> yes, your honor. >> are you making that decision freely and voluntarily? >> yes, your honor. >> reporter: and with that, the defense rested. >> with all that in mind, the defense would rest. >> reporter: much of the day was spent on a witness saying zimmerman was nonconfrontational. but it was a dummy that proved to be one of the strongest witnesses of the day. it begin when the prosecutor grabbed a mannequin to show their version of events. >> do you recognize this as being a human-type figure, right? >> yes, sir. >> okay. >> reporter: it was here the state seemed to concede trayvon martin could have been on top of george zimmerman. suggesting he was pulling away at the time he was shot. previously the prosecution argued zimmerman was on top. >> wo

to the extent he made a statement about zimmerman's claim that seems inconsistent with what zimmerman has said before in this case, touching the gun, actually being able to touch the gun with a holster, that is not what zimmerman has ever said to authorities that we know of so far. that seems inconsistent. on the other hand, this man was his friend, he was not a cop, he was not required to write things down or record anything that was said. so to the extent he gives an inconsistency, i'm not sure it's going to be all that impressive. he also was interested in writing a book and so perhaps a little bit of exaggeration creeps in order to make it a more exciting book. so, yeah, it's an inconsistency. whether it's a moment to anybody, that's highly debatable. >> we're going to take a quick break and be back with more from the george zimmerman trial, which is set to resume in just a few minutes. until then we'll review the day's event in the courtroom with our experts. plus we're watching another major story with a deadline looming. egyptian president mohamed morsy in cairo. . "eliminating

you have to show george zimmerman. one of the reason he's shot trayvon martin was based on his race. i just don't think that happened here. i think he made a lot of wrong assumpti assumptions. a lot of mistakes and assumed things about trayvon that simply weren't true but i don't think they'll be able to prove he shot him in part because he was african-american. >> what do you think about the possibility of a civil lawsuit, a wrongful death civil lawsuit? a lot of us remember what happened to o.j. simpson after he was found not guilty. a few years later, the family filed a wrongful death civil suit and they won. they collected some money, not a whole lot, but they collected some money. you think the george zimmerman family could be expecting -- that george zimmerman could anticipate a civil lawsuit if you will? >> yes, i think they can. and the standard in civil court is very different from criminal court. you are looking at a preponderance of the evidence, a much lower standard. but mark o'mara elude ealluded other da

>> the joke was horrible. >> george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good, you're on the jury. >> nobody got it. i didn't get it, until later, when i thought about it, and i'm like, i guess that could have been funny, but not in the context he told it. >> was there a particular witness that stands out to you? who did you find to be the most credible? >> the doctor, and i didn't know his name. >> the doctor the defense called? >> yes. >> what about him? >> i thought he was awe inspiring. the experiences that he had had over in the war, and i just never thought of anybody that could recognize somebody's voice yelling, in like a terrible terror voice, when he was just previously a half hour ago playing cards with him. >> that is george zimmerman. >> a lot of analysts who were watching the trial felt that the defense attorneys, mark o'mara and don west were able to turn prosecution witnesses to their advantage. chris advisory serino, for instance, the lead investigator, did he make an impression on you? >> chris serino did, but to me, he was jus

how sympathetic she was to zimmerman's presentation. and obviously that's who she believed and the rest of the jury believed as they heard the story. the evidence. >> clearly -- by the way, i should point out, at the end of the interview, she said she doesn't want to do any more interviews, she doesn't want to speak again. she's hoping this will burst the bubble of pressure on the jurors to speak. and she kind of just wants to be left alone. >> she didn't ask to be a public figure, she didn't want to be a public figure. she's not selling a book deal. >> there is another thing, there is a book that she and her husband have talked about writing. >> she's the one? >> yeah, she's the one, that emerged today. she said part of the reason they would like to, they don't want to profit off it, they would like the story told, she thinks they have an interesting story, her husband being an attorney, what it was like to be on the jury. she made a big deal of stressing, she didn't want to profit from this. we didn't pay for this interview. she wante

have you ever spoke ton george zimmerman? >> yes, i did. >> when was the first time you smoke toll george zimmerman ever in your life? >> at the clubhouse in december 2011, we had the sanford police out here, and he was kicking up the neighborhood watch. >> why did you have a neighborhood watch? had there been a problem in this neighborhood? >> we've had a history of break-ins, burglaries, drug activity over the last seven years that i've lived here. it's been a myriad of different types of crimes. >> after the shooting on the 26th of february, did you have any conversations at all with george zimmerman? >> yes, i did. i believe two days before, he was taken into custody, he had called me up on the phone, and he wanted me to share with everybody several talking points. the night my home was in the process of being burglarized february 2nd, 2012, as to who the perpetrator was he was an individual that lived in our community that was responsible for not just the attempted burglary of my house, but two other burglaries that had

>>> first, a day of crucial testimony in the zimmerman trial. the gun. >> that's all someone would need to do to fire a shot if it was fully loaded? >> yes. >> the hoody. >> do you know whose blood that was? >> i got a partial dna profile, and that matched trayvon martin. >> the dna. >> this would be a buckle swab taken from george zimmerman. >> where does the case stand right now as the prosecution begins to wind down its case? the zimmerman trial in black and white. my exclusive with the man who defended o.j. simpson in his murder trial. i want to begin with cnn's martin savidge, live for us in sanford, florida. martin, another day, another gripping series of witnesses, t happened today. >> a lot of forensics, piers. experts and evidence. much of the afternoon talking about dna, specifically whose dna was found where or not found. and the focus became on the gun. the gun that george zimmerman used to shoot 17-year-old trayvon martin. george zimmerman said at one point trayvon was, he believed, reaching for his gun and may have got a hand on it

george zimmerman found not guilty. >> the verdict, we, the jury, find george zimmerman not guilty. >> this morning george zimmerman is a free man acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of trayvon martin. we break down the case with our team of legal experts straight ahead. >> and was it all about politics from the beginning? did the prosecution even have a case? we take a harsh look at how we got to where we are. >> then as the verdict was announced, people took their opinions to the streets. what america is saying this morning and on social media. it blew up last night as that verdict was read. "fox & friends" begins right now. >>> george zimmerman not guilty on all charges in the shooting death of trayvon martin. the verdict was met with shock outside the sanford courtroom and across the country. live outside the courthouse with the very latest on what's happening in florida. >> reporter: good morning, tucker. everything quiet but overnight there were demonstrators. during the entire trial, if you look at the protesters, those who came out here calling for george zimmerman's

zimmerman? >> yes. >> tell me how you met george. >> i met georgy at a mortgage company called first trust back in 2006. >> okay. and was that a place where you worked together? >> yes. >> what type of work did you do back then? >> mortgage business. >> and was mr. zimmerman doing something similar? >> yes. he was in the sales and i was processing. >> okay. >> did you guys become friends over the time you worked together? >> yes. >> did you maintain that friendship? >> yes. >> and it is that friendship that brings you here today, is that correct? >> yes, it is. >> and i know that you were present or around during the time that both proceeding the event that brings us here and, of course, right after the event, correct? >> that's correct. >> what i'd like to do, however, today, is just focus your attention on one subject of that and that is the, we are calling the 911 tape, to identify it to you the tape that has a voice in the foreground and turns out her name is mrs. lauer and voice in the back

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