From GretaWire: This is important because this case is largely about credibility: is George Zimmerman a liar or not? Trayvon Martin can’t testify so the focus is on the credibility of the defendant.
In the closing argument today the prosecutor called George Zimmerman a liar about a statement at the police station and the prosecutor was just plain wrong. Zimmerman did not lie about it. The prosecutor exaggerated or mislead the jury (intentionally or inadvertently.)
The prosecutor told the jury that Zimmerman lied when he acted surprised that night, at the police station, when Officer Singleton told Zimmerman that Trayvon Martin died because, per the prosecutor, Zimmerman already knew Martin was dead.
The prosecutor – at about 2:40 pm in his closing – falsely or incorrectly told the jury that Zimmerman told neighbor Manalo at the scene that he killed Martin. The prosecutor’s incorrect assertion was that Zimmerman was a liar when he acted surprised when Officer Doris Singleton told him at the police station an hour later that Martin died. The prosecutor wanted to use that surprise to send the message to the jury that Zimmerman faked surprise to just try to cover his tracks.
Below is what Zimmerman told Manalo per Manalo — that he “shot” someone. He did not say “killed.”
Not only is it bad for a prosecutor to falsely tell the jury a defendant lied about something when credibility is key to guilt or no guilt in a murder trial …what in the world was the defense doing? They should have immediately objected and said ‘facts not in evidence and the prosecutor is misleading the jury’ and ask the judge to instruct the jury on this error (that they should disregard what the prosecutor said.) Instead the defense just sat there like potted plants.
“I was defending myself when I shot him,” Manalo said Zimmerman told him. Soon after police arrived and Zimmerman asked Manalo to call his wife. “Just tell her I shot someone,” Manalo said Zimmerman told him.
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