The Zimmerman Trial, Day by DayPublished: July 11, 2013

A synopsis of the trial of George Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, starting with the opening arguments.Related Article »

Day 1

Pool photo by Joe Burbank

Prosecutors opened the trial of George Zimmerman, right, with a passionate narrative, portraying him to the six-member, all-female jury as a hate-filled liar and repeating the expletives Mr. Zimmerman used in his 911 call the night Mr. Martin died.

Hoping to drain the courtroom of emotion, the defense unleashed an avalanche of evidence to prove that Mr. Zimmerman acted in self-defense, pointing out his injuries in oversize photos that showed blood dripping from the back of his head. Related Article »

Day 2

Pool photos by Gary W. Green

The prosecution presented evidence, photographs and their first witnesses.

Selene Bahadoor, who lives at the Retreat at Twin Lakes complex where the struggle between Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin took place, said she heard running, shouting and the word “no” from her kitchen. The defense questioned the consistency of her account.

Other witnesses spoke about the neighborhood watch program coordinated by Mr. Zimmerman. Prosecutors have sought to portray Mr. Zimmerman as so zealous about safety that he took sole control of the program. Related Article »

Day 3

Pool photo by Jacob Langston

Rachel Jeantel, who spoke on the phone with Mr. Martin just before he was killed, described what she heard. “I calling, ‘Trayvon, Trayvon,’ ” she said. “I kind of heard Trayvon saying, ‘Get off, get off.’ Suddenly the phone hung up, shut off.” Despite her powerful account, she spoke quietly, at times indistinctly, and was challenged by the defense on her past truthfulness. Related Article »

Day 4

Pool photo by Jacob Langston

A letter that Ms. Jeantel wrote to Mr. Martin’s mother about a month about his death.

Proving a less-than-stellar witness, Ms. Jeantel said she had been reluctant to get involved in the case because it was so emotional. She said the first time she spoke under oath was in front of Mr. Martin's anguished mother, which prompted her to soften her statements. Related Article »

Day 5

Pool photos by Joe Burbank

Using the term “ground and pound,” John Good, left, who lived at the housing complex where Mr. Martin was killed, gave a testimony about the struggle that bolstered the defense's contention that Mr. Zimmerman was being beaten by Mr. Martin. He said a man in dark clothes was "straddling" someone wearing white or red and using "arm motions going down, not just once but multiple times." Mr. Zimmerman was wearing a red jacket that night.

Officer Timothy Smith, right, of the Sanford Police Department, the first officer on the scene, also aided Mr. Zimmerman. He said Mr. Zimmerman's clothes were wet in the back, with bits of grass on them. He also said Mr. Zimmerman told him he had cried for help.Related Article »

Day 6

Pool photo by Joe Burbank

The jury listened to taped police interviews with Mr. Zimmerman, who sounded calm and earnest the night of the incident as an officer dug into his account. “Something was off” about Mr. Martin, he told the police. He said he had begun following Mr. Martin in his car and then on foot.

After Mr. Zimmerman got out of his car, he said, Mr. Martin soon emerged from the darkness and punched him, knocking him to the ground, suffocating him and then repeatedly bashing his head onto concrete while menacing him with the words “You’re going to die tonight.” Mr. Zimmerman said he had cried for help dozens of times and then had fatally shot Mr. Martin after it seemed the teenager was reaching for Mr. Zimmerman’s gun.

Officer Doris Singleton, above right, testified that Mr. Zimmerman expressed dismay after first learning that Mr. Martin had died. She was

asked by the defense if he showed ill will, hatred or spite, words that are important because a second-degree murder conviction requires the demonstration of a depraved mind. “If he had it, he didn’t show it," she responded. Related Article »

Day 7

Pool photo by Joe Burbank

One of the prosecution's leading witnesses, Officer Chris Serino, took the stand. The lead prosecutor, Bernie de la Rionda, demonstrated how a fight might have played out. Officer Serino testified that the expletives Mr. Zimmerman used as he was pursuing Mr. Martin connoted ill will. Police officers were also disturbed that Mr. Zimmerman seemed to follow Mr. Martin after a police operator told him he need not do so.

Jurors also heard from Dr. Valerie Rao, a medical examiner, who concluded after studying photos that Mr. Zimmerman's injuries were "very insignificant" and that scrapes on the back of his head could have come from just one strike against the sidewalk. Her testimony cast doubt on Mr. Zimmerman's claim that Mr. Martin struck him repeatedly, causing him to fear for his life. Related Article »

Day 8

Pool photos by Jacob Langston

Two Florida prosecutors, John Guy, far left, and Bernie de la Rionda showed the hoodie worn by Mr. Martin on the night he was killed. Jurors also heard from Anthony Gorgone, a crime lab analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who testified that he found no traces of Mr. Zimmerman’s DNA in scrapings taken from Mr. Martin’s fingernails. He did find DNA of Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin on the gray sweatshirt that Mr. Martin was wearing, as well as DNA from both on Mr. Zimmerman’s jacket.

Amy Siewert, a ballistics expert, right, answered questions from the prosecution while holding the gun used by Mr. Zimmerman. Prosecutors contended that Mr. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, profiled and pursued Mr. Martin, driven in part by his desire to be a law enforcement officer. Because Mr. Zimmerman was the aggressor, they argued, it was not self-defense. Related Article »

Day 9

Pool photos by Gary W. Green

Sybrina Fulton, left, Mr. Martin's mother, and Gladys Zimmerman, right, Mr. Zimmerman's mother, each said it was her son's voice crying for help in a 911 call made the night Mr. Martin was killed.

Shiping Bao, a medical examiner, said Mr. Martin's hands bore virtually no wounds aside from scrapes on two of his left knuckles. Related Article »

Day 10

Pool photo by Joe Burbank

The defense brought out a key witness in its argument that the person who yelled "help" was Mr. Zimmerman: Tracy Martin, Mr. Martin's father. Police officers had testified that two days after the shooting, Mr. Martin said the voice did not belong to his son. But about two weeks later, he changed his mind, they said. Mr. Martin's testimony was heart-wrenching as he explained the discrepancy.

The cries for help on the 911 call are distinct. But an F.B.I. audio expert has said the quality of the recording and the short duration of the screams made it too difficult to isolate who it was. He suggested that a person familiar with either Mr. Zimmerman’s or Mr. Martin’s voice might be able to identify the person in the call. Related Article »

Day 11

Pool photo by Joe Burbank

Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an expert in forensic pathology, said that Mr. Martin’s injuries suggest he was on top of Mr. Zimmerman during their altercation. The bullet entered his heart from the front, in a left to right direction, and plunged into one of his lungs. But it was possible that Mr. Martin could have been trying to get off Mr. Zimmerman, even if he was leaning, Dr. Di Maio said.

Though there were only two small cuts to the back of Mr. Zimmerman's head, he said bleeding from head injuries often occurs inside the skull. Related Article »

Day 12

Pool photos by Gary W. Green

Mark O’Mara, a defense attorney, used a foam dummy to describe the fight between Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin. The defense rested its case after days of reviewing Mr. Zimmerman’s visible injuries, the mechanics of the fight and the contention that it was his voice crying for help on the 911 recording. Mr. Zimmerman did not take the witness stand, but the jury had heard from him through his many statements to the police.

Mr. Zimmerman, left, with Mr. O’Mara. Prosecutors were left to prove that Mr. Zimmerman did not act in self-defense. All in all, the prosecution had called 40 witnesses and the defense had called 19, but Mr. Zimmerman may

have benefited from the testimony of several prosecution witnesses who appeared to bolster his self-defense claim. Related Article »Day 13

Pool photos by Gary W. Green

Bernie de la Rionda, the assistant state attorney, left, presented the prosecution's closing arguments. Prosecutors said Mr. Zimmerman “profiled” Mr. Martin, pursued him and began the confrontation that ended in the teenager’s death.

Judge Debra S. Nelson agreed to allow jurors to consider a lesser charge of manslaughter against Mr. Zimmerman. For Mr. Zimmerman to be convicted of second-degree murder, the jury must determine that he acted with spite,

malice or ill will without regard for human life. Manslaughter has a lower threshold for prosecutors to prove, and carries a maximum sentence of 30 years. Related Article »