cannot be used as evidence. it was also interesting, michael, that the defense decided to essentially end their case the same way they started the case. of course, they started their case with gladys zimmerman, george zimmerman s mother. and they ended with robert zimmerman sr., george zimmerman s father, both called to testify that it was their son s voice on that 911 call. by the way, we kept count. robert zimmerman sr. the tenth person for the defense to testify it was his son s voice and that s going to be one of the central points that they make to the jury when they address them tomorrow in closing arguments. craig, great report as always. thanks so much for it. thank you. for more on today s testimony, i m joined by msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom, alex ferrer, and joseph haynes davis. look at that exchange earlier in which judge nelson questioned george zimmerman whether he wanted to testify and the back and forth between defense
inquiring of mr. zimmerman as to his decision about whether or not to testify your objection is overruled. judge alex, you have been in that position of advising a defendant of their fifth amendment right. read those tea leaves. what was going on there? an undercurrent of friction between the two of them clearly. it s been present throughout the case. and it just bubbled to the surface today like it has on other occasions. the judge doesn t need to know right now. there are still two witnesses left. he can wait and make his decision at end of the two witnesses. by the same token, mr. west didn t have to make a point of it. even if he said i don t think i want to testify right now, he can change his mind and later on, after the two witnesses, i changed my mind. it doesn t really matter. it seems like each one of them was playing on a power play against one another and it bubbled up. joseph haynes davis, i watched that and thought to myself if and when george zimmerman writes i
0 he was a defense expert witness, paid by the defense. but he was given a number of pictures and also interviewed george zimmerman. he also looked over some of the witness statements, as well. he was asked pointedly by mark o mara, attorney of course for george zimmerman, ill will, spite, hatred, based on what you ve heard, based on what you read, was there ill will, spite, hatred in his voice when he made that call craig, can i say i was shocked as a lawyer watching that that he was allowed to answer that question. that, to me, didn t seem like the sort of thing you ask a so-called expert. that would be left for the jury. and there have been a number of attorneys who said the same thing, michael smerconish. not just that question, a number of other questions, as well, that he was asked and allowed to offer an opinion on what would seem to be outside the boundaries of his area of expertise. cannot be used as evidence. it was also interesting, michael, that the defense decided to
0 scenario, he could get the case tomorrow, worst-case scenario, sometime on friday. dennis root, the witness that testified, a self-proclaimed use of force expert, retired law enforcement officer as well, basically testified that based on the evidence that was given to him, george zimmerman s story checked out. the information that was given to him, of course, was given to him by the defense. he was a defense expert witness, paid by the defense. but he was given a number of pictures and also interviewed george zimmerman. he also looked over some of the witness statements, as well. he was asked pointedly by mark o mara, attorney of course for george zimmerman, ill will, spite, hatred, based on what you ve heard, baseed on what you read, was there ill will, spite, hatred when he made the call i was shocked, as a lawyer watching that, that he was allowed to answer that question. that, to me, didn t seem like through him the computer animation that was disallowed. reporter: that wou
you re out of the car, walking the dog or something and that threat comes toward you, then it s another issue. but in this instance, if mr. zimmerman does not get out of the car, we are not having your show tonight. let s hold on to that, hold that thought. the audience too, we ll be right back with lisa bloom. and joseph haynes davis. you re watching hardball, the place for politics. vo: traveling you definitely end up meeting a lot more people but a friend under water is something completely different. i met a turtle friend today. avo: whatever you re looking for, expedia has more ways to help you find yours. are you kidding me? no, it s only 15 calories. [ male announcer ] with reddi wip, fruit never sounded more delicious. mmm. [ male announcer ] with 15 calories per serving and real cream, the sound of reddi wip is the sound of joy.