0 drama that unfolded today. during closing arguments, the defense asked the jurors one last time to find george zimmerman not guilty. >> i almost wish and i have never said this in a criminal trial before. i never heard it being said before. i almost wish that the verdict had guilty, not guilty, and completely innocent. i would ask you to check that one. check the not guilty but check the innocent then, too. >> laura: the prosecution then gave a rebuttal. >> the only way that defendant gets to his gun, the only way trayvon martin was getting off of him or he had backed up so far on his leg that he couldn't hit, couldn't touch him the defendant didn't shoot trayvon martin because he had to. he shot him because he wanted to. that's the bottom line. >> harris: by mid afternoon the judge charged the jurors and the case is now in their hands. joining us now from new york with the analysis of the day is judge alex fer war, a former florida circuit cut judge and host of judge alex who has been following this case. judge, the dramatic wind up to all of this today and, first, i have to get your take on the defense closing. now, a lot of people have been fairly critical of how the defense has handled this case i think o'mara came with a little less zest than i would have liked but tell us what your take was. >> that's his style. everybody has a different style. you saw bernie yesterday and i thought that as a little over the top. i thought some of john guy's closing today was a little over the top a little dramatic. they have emotion to work with. the reason they have emotion to work with is because they don't have a lot else beyond emotion. oweo'mara is more to the point. he made a the lo of good points. box check off innocent because is totally innocent is good. one of the things they are worried about is compromised verdict. they charged second but we don't want to say not guilty because this is a 17-year-old who was unarmed who was killed even though they haven't proven the case or self-defense looks solid. maybe we can settle to be manslaughter. that's as bad for george zimmerman as second degree murder. so, by i saying i wish there was a box that is completely innocent, you could check it off or write it on there. it's kind of like not guilty as the compromise. and he put up good evidence and a good argument for a complete not guilty verdict. as a matter of law, i think the right verdict legally is not guilty but there is that huge risk that the jury is going to say we want a compromise and give manslaughter. >> laura: judge, before we get to the prosecutor's rebuttal, i loved the moment where he hit the stop watch o'mara and we went through that four-minute time period. for a lot of folks who haven't been following this, tell us what that four minutes represented of dead silence in the courtroom? >> yeah, he sat there for four minutes with dead silence and he said that was the amount of time that trayvon martin had to get home if he was really afraid. you know, the prosecution has made this deal about trayvon martin was afraid of george zimmerman. he was this crazy guy who is following him and who is not afraid of that? and this pointed out that if he really was afraid, he had four minutes to get to his house and the house was, as he described it, a football throw's away from where he was. so, that was a very good point. i would have followinged it up. because, the allegation or the implication there was trayvon didn't want to go home. he was upset that this creepy ass cracker was following him and he wanted confrontation. that was there. i would have followed one jeantel she heard trayvon say why are you following me and george zimmerman say what are you talking about? if you actually approach somebody you have been chasing you wouldn't say what are you talking about? what are you talking about is what you say when somebody comes out of the darkness and you weren't expecting them and they confront you and say why are you following me? >> laura: it would be like what are you talking about? why are you asking me that? so. >> that would coincide with the four minutes of he could have gotten away if he wanted to but he didn't because he wanted to confront this guy. and so, you know, that was very -- it was very powerful. of course, the defense used it to say he didn't go home because he didn't want him to see where he lived. >> laura: meanwhile, the prosecution. >> the prosecution, yeah. >> laura: the prosecution gets their rebuttal and the argument is about the boy versus that, basically that strange man. that grown man who he referred to as strange. a strange person. and it was very emotional. look into your heart. basically saying are we that type of country to allow this type of man to go free? how did that play as the final punctuation mark on this trial. >> i think it played well. there is no question this is an emotion case. whether you have a 17-year-old boy unarmed and killed, it tears at your heart strings. i have mentioned it before, my mother, unfortunately lost two sons. i know it's very, very difficult to get past losing a child. so, the jury, especially of all women but any jury would sympathize with this. so the prosecution is pounding the emotional side of this case, saying to the jury as he said, you know, i don't have trayvon here to put my arm around like omar are a did around george zimmerman during his closing. so, that does play well. but the reason they are playing that is because they don't have anything else. the prosecution's theory has changed some times in this case because they, frankly, don't have the evidence to beat a claim of self-defense. they originally said trayvon was on the bottom. when that didn't work they said maybe he was standing. when that didn't work they said he was on top but maybe he was backing up. they don't have any evidence that that was going on. if they get a conviction for manslaughter it will be because the jury wanted to compromise to not make this seem like something minimal. i don't see a conviction for second stands up on appeal. >> laura: if that's the way the jury operates, to me taking that tact is kind of a travesty. that's not how the justice system is supposed to work. if you view the justice system as impartial and it's supposed to be that, that, to me is, a farce. >> it is. >> it shouldn't go down that way. and, you know, the bottom line is that i think that that should have been addressed a little more strongly biomarah in his closing. he should have talked about compromise and how that is a dereliction of the duty of the jury. they should be -- it's either proven or not bottom line. >> laura: exactly. judge alex, thank thanks very much. how effectively did each side make its indicates ca case in this try. florida authorities appealing for peace after the verdict ghoms in the zimmerman trial. while are some commentators saying that is racist? those reports when we come back. ...so you say men are superior drivers? yeah? then how'd i get this... 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things happen. to learn more, visit coke.com/comingtogether [ villain ] well mr. baldwin... it appears our journey has come to a delightful end. then i better use the capital one purchase eraser to redeem my venture miles for this trip. purchase eraser? it's the easy way to erase any recent travel expense. i just pick a charge, like my flight with a few taps, it's taken care of. impressive baldwin. does it work for hotels? absolutely thank goodness. mrs. villain and i are planning our... you scare me. and i like it. let's go what's in your wallet? >> laura: continuing now with live coverage of the george zimmerman murder trial, as the jury ends day one of deliberations without a verdict, they will consider how will each side argue its case and defense attorney mark o'mara, you know, he tried to physically prove zimmerman's innocence earlier this week. >> so, george zimmerman, trayvon martin. the injuries on mr. zimmerman's head consistent with somebody doing this on cement? >> i don't think so. >> how about this? how about somebody resisting the attempt, the injuries the two lacerations? could that have come from cement? if somebody was resisting me pushing down? >> i believe so. i believe it was a culmination of downward force, whether it was from pushing or striking and i know clearly by the injuries to his face and that would drive him back, his head striking hard into the concrete. >> meanwhile, the prosecution tried to paint a very sinister picture of the defendant. >> why does this defendant get out of the car if he thinks that trayvon smarnt a threat to him? why? why? because he has got a gun. he has got the equalizer. is he going to take care of it. he is a wanna be cop. he is going to take care of it he has got a gun. and my god it's his community and is he not going to put up with it. either the police are taking too long to respond, he is he going to handle it. >> laura: in the end, which side was more convincing? joining us now to analyze from boy ton beach florida is suskauer and former florida prosecutor. all right, philip, let's start with you from the more prosecutorial standpoint. how did the prosecution do as this trial moved forward? there was a lot of criticism early on about they were not able to reach their benchmark burden of proof and so things kind of changed as the case went on but what's your take? >> well, here is the thing. it's really factor of two separate trials. from the moment the incident occurred on, i think the state did a very poor job. i think the fact that they allowed mr. zimmerman to enter in his statement without being forced to take the stand was a collosal error. that being said, everything prealtercation i think they did a very good job. and i believe that if emotion is the one key factor that the jury places their hat on and places their weight in, there could be the possibility of a manslaughter conviction coming back. >> now, michelle, let's -- can you respond to that if you want. i mean, i'm not as charitable toward the prosecution. maybe -- my former defense lawyer hat that i'm still wearing. >> right. >> i don't think they met the mark in this case. i have been pretty consistent with that and didn't change with the closing argument. i think they did a pretty good job what they had. they didn't have a lot. your take on what they said and then we will move on. >> you know, i think that they just -- did they do the best job that they possibly could do. no i think they tried. but there were things that they should have done that they could have done much, much better. i think it was very disappointing. and i think that their closing argument yesterday was completely scattered and all over the place and offensive. and maybe just over the top. really, really over the top. and, again, i think that there was also a lack of proper witness preparation. i remember the medical examiner or what we could have done with him. but, so, no, i think that you know, if you are going to compare two, i disagree. i think that prior to the altercation, everything gets looped into the same pot here. and i think that they lose. just from the point when they filed these charges. it was all down hill from there. >> laura: i mean, for ms. jeantel's appearance on the stand. people thought people were being unfair to her. the woman on the phone with trayvon, when of course, he was approaching trayvon -- approaching zimmerman. and that was obviously not a good moment for the prosecution. but even past that, i mean, you can't supplant and philip, can you chime. in you can't supplant emotion with where the facts are supposed to be in the case to prove that element of ill will or anger or visceral hatred of trayvon martin or a black person in order to prove that second degree murder charge. might be different for the manslaughter. >> i would absolutely agree with you. i think they painted themselves in the corner from the beginning by locking themselves into the version that they thought was going to come out. and quite frankly, that version did not come out. that being said at the end of the day, you still have a 17-year-old child. you still have an individual who is dead through no fault of his own. i think that if -- if the state could show enough emotion that the jury puts a lot of weight with that they may do a split the baby and say we don't want to come back with a murder 2 conviction because they didn't reach that. we don't want to come back with nothing. this poor kid is dead. they don't realize the ramification that a conviction could be 10 to 30 years. if emotion is the primary factor. >> laura: which is ridiculous. listen to what we are saying, emotion is the primary factor or could it be. >> that's wrong. >> laura: i know, philip, you are saying that's not the way it should go. that's not the way the criminal justice system is supposed to operate for the defense or or the state. not whether there is going to be riot or "new york times" is going to like it or al sharpton is going to like it or not frankly whether the prosecution or defense is going to like it. what happened that night with everything we know yard is the standard. not whether we want to split the baby. but, michelle, go ahead. i want to talk about the defense reenactment as well but go ahead. >> you know, laura, i mean you are directly on target. and the judge insphruckets the jury that that emotion should not be playing a part. if that's the only thing they have that's pretty sad. again, completely overcharged here. and what they did, jumping up and down from the very beginning about this cop wanna be who was overaggressive but they can't answer key questions. what they want to do is really have the jury throw out all of their common sense and reason and say, you know what? he got out of the car. he wanted to be a cop. and you know what? nothing else matters because he is guilty. he got out of the car. but the fact is, there was only one viable, viable theory of what happened and they could not prove it. there were too many unanswered questions and they wanted the jury to go on a journey with them way too far into the stratosphere. i think that's what mark o'mara was continuing to harp upon. >> philip, we only have a little time. did you think that defense reenactment video that was allowed to be playing in the closing where he did the reenactment of what happened that night, was that powerful. >> it was tremendously powerful. because the state was kind of wavering as to their theory of how this incident occurred. the defense said, no, no, no, no. this is how the incident occurred. >> what is odd is that is usually the state's to do that in this case mark o'mara did that. >> i think it was better to use that in the closing than it would have been to have used it in the actual case. that he was my take. counselors, thank you very much. coming up next, president obama was quick to way weigh in on the trayvon martin death last year. why is the white house refusing now to comment on the situation? that report moments away. a plt begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. 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