unarmed and there were no signs of forced entry to the home. reporter: wafer, who does not dispute shooting mcbride, arguing he feared for his life. wafer s attorney said he acted in self-defense, believing mcbride was acting violently and trying to break into his home. this is part of the problem with this case, there s been so much prejudgment and so much speculation. reporter: soon it will be up to a jury to decide if this really was self-defense. alex perez, abc news, chicago. what do you think? how big of an issue could race be in this case? well, it s going to depend on the prosecution. because in a case like this, it s going to be up to them to say he had a background, if they want to say this or believe this, of some sort of racial conduct, and that influenced his reactions at that time. that s sort of what happened in the trayvon martin case. they approached george zimmerman and looked at his background. if they don t do that the defense will stay away from it but wh
of forced entry to the home. reporter: wafer, who does not dispute shooting mcbride, pleaded not guilty, arguing he feared for his own life. i remind you, you re still under oath. reporter: wafer s attorney said he acted in self-defense, believing mcbride was acting violently and trying to break into his home. this is part of the problem with this case, there s been so much prejudgment and so much speculation. reporter: soon it will be up to a jury to decide if this really was self-defense. alex perez, abc news, chicago. what do you think? how big of an issue could race be in this case? well, it s going to depend on the prosecution. because in a case like this, it s going to be up to them to say he had a background, if they want to say this or believe this, of some sort of racial conduct, and that influenced his reaction at that time. that s sort of what happened in the trayvon martin case. they approached george zimmerman and looked at his background. if they don t do th
surprises and at christmas, all the more special. i love it. he got a two-week break and he s back serving the country. the families have to serve as well. alongside. great story. a michigan judge rejected a self-defense claim by a detroit area man who fatally shot an unarmed woman. the 19-year-old was trying to break into his home, he says. but civil rights groups say race may have played a role in the shooting. now a jury will decide if he s guilty of second degree murder. here s susan candiotti with more. reporter: of aa two-deer two-day hearing how do you load a shot shell into the chamber? just like that. reporter: a michigan judge ruled there s enough evidence to let a jury decide whether wafer is guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter. he s pleaded not guilty. he s accused of shooting mcbride
in the face through his screen door in the middle of the night. what wafer didn t know, mcbride crashed her car several blocks away after a night of heavy drinking and smoking pot. the judge questioning whether the homeowner had to pick up a gun at all. he could have not answered the door. he could have called for help. it suggests to this court the defendant made a bad choice. those word have a sting coming from a judge who s heard the evidence in the case to say that clearly mr. wafer had made a bad choice in what he did. reporter: defense attorneys offered a new theory about why they say wafer feared for his life. we have evidence the screen frame was so violently banged that it broke. so if you re at 4:30 in the morning, by yourself hearing that at the front door, what do you think is going on in your mind. reporter: prosecutors were furious. that is ridiculous. that s ridiculous. you open up the front door
because you re so afraid of whatever it is that s out there? reporter: for mcbride s family, a long road ahead waiting to learn whether someone will be held responsible for their daughter s violent death. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. susan, thank you for that. coming up next on new day, two astronauts about to embark on a critical space walk but will they be able to repair a broken cooling line that s causing chaos on the international space station? can you say epic split? wait until you see how chuck norris is trying to upstage juan claude van damme. can it be done?