14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most debated and mediated murder cases in recent history is going to trial. George Zimmerman is accused of shooting and killing an unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, but he claims self-defense. The case isn’t going to be an easy one.
ABC News reports that “it took Judge Debra Nelson seconds to deny Mark O’Mara’s motion to continue the trial on the grounds that his team was not ready.”
So, as the Good Morning America report embedded below can confirm, both sides have started questioning the 500 potential jurors to pick the final lot.
One thing they will be very careful about is race, Dan Abrams, GMA legal analyst, points out. Race is the issue everyone is avoiding to talk about but which will undoubtedly come out during the trial.
The defense attorney claims Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, acted according to the Stand Your Ground law, which allows one the use of violence in self-defense, in certain circumstances.
The other side will argue that Martin’s murder was racially motivated, in that Zimmerman shot the black teen only on the assumption that he might be carrying a weapon.