important and germane to the defense s case. this is don west questioning francisco alexis carter, captain carter on the stand about how, how fearful you have to be without injury in order for a reasonable person to think, you know what i m going to lose my life. maybe i need to do something about it. have a listen. you don t have to wait until you are almost dead before you can defend yourself? no, i would advise you probably don t do. and i take it when you are under attack, you never really know where that moment will be? no, unfortunately, you don t. all right. perfect example of how that s a real witness speaking in real terms asking, you know, being asked a real question about how far do you leave this before you need as a reasonable person to determine you are if trouble? do you see george zimmerman? typically, with see a stoic
correct. in this case you were able to document gun works, fired cartridged, fired bullet, correct? yes. let s talk about the gun itself and if i might approach the witness, your honor with the firearm. if you would, i m also going to have you testify from where you. ill ask you to take out the firearm and hold it as you know how to pointing nowhere near us including the jurors. i think you said you have a good history and experience in firearms generally, correct? yes. you know what different types of firearms are used for? yes. okay. that is what s called a double action, correct? yes. meaning by that you don t need to do you need to have a
you if you recognize that? i do. how do you recognize that? the daily case number, the exhibit number and my initials. and what what do you recognize it to be? it is one fired 9 millimetre lugger cartridge case. when you receive a firearm in a fire casing, are you able to determine whether or not that particular casing came from that particular firearm? yes. how can you do that? with a submitted firearm and magazine that i will use laboratory and/or evidence ammunition to test fire that pistol. i will then collect the fired cartridge cases and compare those microscopically to the evidence cartridge case to the cases that i received. did you do that with the shell casing or cartridge case in this case and the cal tek pistol? yes. what did you find? the cartridge case was fired with the pistol. did you also receive some bullet trafficmentes in this case? yes, i did. your honor, may i again
number and my initials. and this is, obviously, a sweatshirt that you examined in the case? yes. if you can show the members of the jury the area that you focused on as having a bullet that passed through it? this area right here was where i was looking right underneath the exhibit. as the previous exhibit, did you make a cutting from the exhibit? i did. is that depicted on the back of the exhibit, if you would come around and look. yes. both the cutting and then the area on the sweatshirt where it was cut out? yes. show that to the jury if you could. i ask you to display the bullet hole through it with the test fire? yes. .
before i get the critical nature of the testimony suggesting george zimmerman knows a thing or two about the law. oh, now you want to go to a break? yes. a break. i will get it now, then after i ll put the break in. ode, you talk now. well, i thought this morning s testimony with captain carter, the instructor, what he was an extremely appealing witness. i think the judge made a complete mistake by allowing it at all. i thought it was irrelevant. it was confusing. it was not something the jury should have heard in that way. in terms of the effect on this case, i doubt it will have a big effect at all. it does show that zimmerman knew something about the law, but on cross examination, the defense showed that, in fact, self-defense was emotionally a broader concept than many people might have expected, but that s the kind of information i think should come from the judge in this case.