Late on Tuesday night, the George Zimmerman defense team and Judge Debra Nelson got into a heated discussion that ended with Nelson walking out of the courtroom as attorneys Mark O’Mara and Don West protested what they felt was the court’s breakneck scheduling and unwillingness to hear arguments on admission of pertinent evidence. “Judge, I’m not physically able to keep up this pace much longer,” said West as Nelson turned her back on him.
The defense team wanted Trayvon Martin’s text messages and pictures, including texts about fighting, admitted into evidence. The defense also argued that the prosecution had not turned over the cellphone data to the prosecution until early June, not enough time to handle it for trial. The data included a female friend messaging Trayvon to stop fighting, pictures of a gun and a naked teen, and a Facebook posting from Trayvon’s half-brother requesting him for help learning how to fight.
On Friday morning, the judge ruled them inadmissible, agreeing with the prosecution that there was no way to prove that the texts came directly from Trayvon rather than someone using his phone.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).
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