tv The Cycle MSNBC June 26, 2013 12:00pm-1:01pm PDT
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because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. there was this and this. she got a parking ticket... ♪ and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she's got the citi simplicity card. it doesn't charge late fees or a penalty rate. ever. as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply. court is now in a 15-minute recess in sanford. we're in the middle of testimony from a key witness in the trial of george zimmerman.
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the young woman trayvon martin was speaking with on the phone moments before he was killed. joining us now, msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom. you've been listening to rachel testify. has she proven to be a credible witness so far, or has the admitted lie that she was not actually at the funeral and the reasons why she was not at the funeral undone her somewhat? >> she's certainly credible so far, but it's only been her direct examination. the proof will come in the cross-examination. she tells a story very different from george zimmerman's story. that's why she's on the stand. she says she's on the phone with trayvon martin in those final moments before his confrontation with george zimmerman. she said george zimmerman -- i'm sorry, that trayvon martin used a couple racial epithets in reference to george zimmerman. this is the first time i've ever heard that. she said trayvon martin said he was being followed, that he was concerned about it. she heard the phone dropping.
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she heard the sound of wet grass. the last thing she heard from trayvon martin was, get off, get off. >> lisa, besides the racial epithet revelation, what else was new in her testimony about that altercation between trayvon martin and george zimmerman? >> well, there was certainly a lot more information from her than we have heard before. we knew from court papers that she was going to say that trayvon martin said he was being followed and that he was concerned. but they had a fairly lengthy conversation about it. she says trayvon martin told her repeatedly that this man was following him. she says trayvon used the phrase "creepy ass cracker" to describe george zimmerman. she said that he said why is he looking at me, i'm trying to lose him, the man is following me. he used the "n" word to describe george zimmerman and said he's still following me. it seems like a relatively long period of time that trayvon
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martin is describing to her being followed by george zimmerman. >> lisa, in light of what we've seen so far, how do you expect the defense to cross-examine this witness? i was just overhearing you. you said cross-examination could be explosive. why is that so? >> well, because we trial lawyers, you know, it's red meat to us when we know somebody has lied about something relevant to the case. this had to come out in direct. it did come out that she lied about the reason why she did not go to trayvon martin's memorial service. at the time she said she was in the hospital. after her hospital records were subpoenaed, and it turns out there were none, we know that is now a lie, and she had to admit so on direct testimony. she said tearfully she didn't go because she didn't want to see the body. she felt guilty about it. i think that seemed very genuine and probably an excuse that most people could accept from a 19-year-old girl. >> lisa, what do you expect the
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defense will try to do with regard to credibility? would they make the argument that any statement here that turns it out to be inaccurate not only reflects on the witness, but that the witness is trying to satisfy some other goals or some sense of justice? would that go that expansive? what would they do? >> here's cross-examination 101. take the prior statements the witness has made. here in florida where this case is being tried, she will have been deposed. she'll have already answered questions under oath. they already have a script of what she said previously under oath. almost every witness tells the story a little bit differently when they tell it again and again and again. we attorneys use those inconsistencies to try to make it look as though they're lying, try to make it look as though they're not sticking to their original story. if she has any inconsistencies, i expect those to be exploited. i expect them to go in for the kill on the credibility issue since she lied about not going
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to trayvon martin's funeral. if you lied about that, how can we trust the rest of your testimony? that's where i expect this defense team to go. they've been very good on cross-examination with all the witnesses so far in this trial. >> that certainly makes a lot of sense. i think we should be careful about calling the racial epithets as something bomb shell, because he's not necessarily referring to george zimmerman in a racist way but trying to describe this person he doesn't know who's chasing him in his own words. perhaps being followed and what she says about that speaks more to what happened to trayvon martin that night. >> you know, i'll leave it to anybody else to determine whether they think they're racial epithets or not. there is a certain slang teenagers use. if you use the "n" word to somebody who's not -- >> lisa, rank this witness among the other witnesses. how important is she to the
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case? >> i think she's extremely important to the case. she wasn't an eyewitness, but she was an earwitness to at least the beginning of the altercation. if her story hangs together on cross-examination and the jury believes she's accurately recounting what happened from trayvon martin's point of view just before the altercation, that's very important stuff for the prosecution. >> okay, lisa. stay with us. nbc's craig melvin is at the courthouse in sanford, florida. what's going on down there at the scene? >> reporter: s.e., right now the court is in about a ten-minute recess. once judge nelson gavels the court back to order, we will hear a little more from are the 19-year-old. i should note here that i actually had an opportunity to talk to her attorney during a break outside the courtroom earlier today. she retained council sometime ago, we should note. her miami-based attorney talked to me for about 10 or 15 minutes. i asked him how she would go about countering what we just
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heard from the defense. he told me that she is prepared to spend a fair amount of time defending that lie. he also said that she indicated to him that she knew when she told the lie that she had gone to the hospital. she knew as soon as she'd done it that it was the wrong thing to do. so shortly thereafter, she retained counsel because there was a flurry of requests to try and track her down. he also said to me that -- again, in addition to meeting in elementary school, he said they're platonic friends and spend a great deal of time talking on the phone with each other. he said this was a genuine friendship, not anything physical. he went out of his way to explain that to me as well. he said they had spent a fair amount of time practicing, if
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you will, what we are going to see transpire over the next 30 minutes, hour, hour and a half, who knows how long the defense is going to spend cross-examining her. again, this is the third witness of the day. earlier today we heard from two neighbors who live in that gated condo complex as well. we also -- of course, earlier today that alternate juror was dismissed. one of the two male alternates was dismiss for something totally unrelated to the case, according to judge nelson. in addition to that, there was another ruling this morning. the judge decided to allow those nonemergency calls, a series of those nonemergency calls that george zimmerman made. the judge decided to allow a series of those to be heard in court as well. again, rachel to this point obviously the biggest witness of the day. >> all right, craig melvin. thanks. stay there for us. let's bring back in lisa bloom. you've been in a lot of these courtrooms. when the cross-examination comes, they've got to be careful, right? this is a very young woman. sort of seeming to badger her could be offensive to some of
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the female jurors. >> well, that's true. but mark o'mara, who's the lead defense attorney, has already proven himself yesterday and today in trial. he doesn't come on strong. he's not loud and obnoxious and aggressive. he just goes through the facts and sometimes almost in a light way smiles, he says, uh-huh, uh-huh, okay, okay, as he sort of spins this web of deceit, as the defense would characterize it, around these witnesses. i don't expect him to be tough on her, but i expect him to really go for the jugular when it comes to any inconsistencies in her story. >> lisa, let's reset the lay of the land right here. when we come back from this recess that was taken with this star witness, as we've heard, for the prosecution, what should we expect to see as a viewer? >> well, we expect to see her cross-examination. that's where they're going to lay out any problems with her testimony. certainly the lie that she told about not attending trayvon martin's funeral, which she's explained a little bit on direct. it's easy to explain things on direct examination. it's much more difficult on cross-examination. then i expect the prosecution to
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continue laying their case out as they have, piece by piece, sort of putting together all the pieces of the puzzle for this jury. it's a circumstantial case for them. their strategy is to take george zimmerman's story he's given of what happened that night -- he says he killed in self-defense -- and really go after it bit by bit with each of the witnesses who have a different story to tell. >> lisa, rachel is an important witness. from your experience in the courtroom, this lie that she's told, which she explains saying she felt guilty about not going, does that -- do you think that will ultimately impeach her testimony or it will be sympathetic to the jurors and they'll understand her excuse? >> you know, i wonder how you all react to that. i'm sympathetic. i'm a mother. i'm sort of in the age range of most of the jurors. most of them are middle-aged and older. i'm sympathetic to a young person like her explaining why she didn't want to go to a funeral. most people are very uncomfortable going to funerals. but she lied about it. she didn't just say i was busy
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or i had something else. she said i was in the hospital. that's the kind of lie that lawyers can and do check up on. turns out there were no hospital records. until that point, you know, she stuck with the lie. then when she got caught in it, she had to come clean. >> all right. we're in the middle of a ten-minute recess in the george zimmerman trial. that witness will be back on the stand momentarily. we'll be back after this short break. ♪ chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for boat insurance. geico, see how much you could save.
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policewombloom. the witness and the court are in a short recess. what's happening now? what are they doing? >> it's a short break right now. it's the afternoon recess. we expect them back very shortly. as you know, rachel was just on the stand. we expect her cross-examination after this break. >> lisa, talking to you just now during the break, you made a very interesting point, which is this witness said that on the phone she heard trayvon martin refer to george zimmerman as, quote, a creepy ass cracker, which you said is the only racial epithet we know of surrounding these two men. how significant do you think that will be for the jury? >> keep in mind the prosecution began its opening statement in this case with the profanity that george zimmerman used on the phone with the police talking about trayvon martin. punk and a-hole and some other profane language, but not racially insensitive language.
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>> wait, wait. li lisa, come on. there was a trifecta offer stereotypes used against trayvon martin in the initial phone call. >> what are you referring to? >> has his hand down his pants, so he clearly must have a gun, he's up to go good, they always get away. he's criminal and yet this stereotype that these black criminals typically tend to get away. so he's a criminal, he's on drugs, and he must have a gun. that's the trifecta of stereotypes we're talking about when we're talking about criminalizing black men, seeing them as criminals. that is sort of the thing that launched this as the sort of feeling of this is a racialized situation that brought the nation into this. it's more than just using the "n" word or the "c" word here or there that makes people say it's racialized. >> first of all, some of what you said is not what george zimmerman said on that phone call. some of it were inferences.
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he did not say black men are always criminals or anything like that. >> he said they always get away. >> yes, he did say that. i just want to hear what's on that phone call. >> and he can clearly see he's black. he indicates he sees a black person. he says he has his hand down his pants and he thinks it he's arm. he thinks he's on drugs and up to no good. >> some of that is not on the recording. some of that is inference. he's asked by the police operator, is this man black, white, or hispanic. he says black. i just want to be clear about what the facts are. we can all discuss it. we can discuss by inference whether there's racial motivation by george zimmerman. i think that goes to, by the way, some of the evidence that came in this morning. the judge allowed in the prior nonemergency police calls that zimmerman had made. again, he was asked on some of those calls, is the person you're calling about black, white, or hispanic? a couple times the answer was black. it wouldn't surprised me if the prosecution strings some of that
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together and makes a nice mixed tape, if you would, of george zimmerman saying it's a black man, it's a black man. that would be stringing together a lot of different calls. >> okay. hang out with us, lisa. court remains in recess in the george zimmerman trial. we're in the middle of key testimony from a witness. here's what some of us just heard from her moments ago. >> you ended up speaking to trayvon martin's -- trayvon martin's mother and to parents, right? >> yes. >> okay. and -- did you end up lying
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about not going -- why you didn't go to the wake, the funeral? >> yes. >> and why did you lie about not going to the funeral or to the wake? >> i felt guilty. >> felt guilty about what? >> by them finding out i was the last person -- that i was the last person who talked to they son. >> you'll have to say it again. >> that i was the last person that talked to they son. and i didn't go to the wake -- >> you just saw right there quite a moment in the courtroom
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happening moments ago. the star witness for the prosecution describing her last moments speaking with trayvon martin and why she was not forthcoming about why she did not go to his funeral, claiming she was in the hospital when, in fact, she just didn't want to go. she claims it was too traumatic for her to see her friend in a coffin. we're joined now by msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom, who's been watching it trial all along for us. it seems, lisa, they're now going to go back into session after this recess. just to reset the table once again, we are now prepared for the defense to have an aggressive cross-examination of this witness. >> that's right. every witness who testifies in an american courtroom is subject to cross-examination. this one is no different. let's listen in. >> let's listen in. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon, mr. don.
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>> you met trayvon martin when you both were in kindergarten? >> second grade. >> second grade. but you weren't friends on up to the present time. you lost contact with him completely until just february of 2006. >> in high school, when we got to high school. >> and then in february 2012, you became reconnected, if you will. >> february the 1st. >> the actually first day of february? >> yes, the day of my birthday. i remember. >> and did you become reacquainted because trayvon martin would come into the neighborhood where you live -- >> yes. >> -- to meet up with his friends? >> we're friends, yes. we were friends. >> i'm --
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>> with friends. that trayvon martin would come to your neighborhood with his friends? >> no, his friends live in my neighborhood. >> okay. so he would come into your neighborhood to -- >> hang out, ride bikes, play games. >> and is that how he met up with you again? >> yes. >> and then right about february 1st on your birthday, is that when you and he began to talk and text frequently? >> laugh around, yes. >> say again. >> laugh around, yes. laugh around, playing around, yes. >> so you would then talk with him on the phone quite a bit and text with him, beginning about february 1st? >> yes. >> but you weren't in any way his girlfriend? >> no. >> and you hadn't ever actually gone on a date? >> no. >> from february 1st until february 26th, when he died,
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would you have seen him only two or three times in person? >> three times, no. i saw him a lot, a lot. before he went out of town. >> when did he go out of town? >> the week before he died. >> so between february 1st and february 19th or 20th, you saw him a few times? >> yes. >> but not in a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of way? >> no. >> then when he went out of town, when he came up to sanford, did you continue to talk with him on the phone and text him? >> yes. >> and did you do that on through sunday, february 26th, that we've been talking about here today? >> yes. >> on february 26th, did you text with him throughout the morning and early afternoon?
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>> yes. >> and then also talked with him at some length during the day? >> i ain't hear what you say. >> and then you talked with him a lot during the day itself. >> yes, the whole day. text and talk. >> so basically all day you and he were on the phone? >> yes. or somebody put three way. yeah, three way. he put some of his friends, i put some of my friends on the phone around that time we was on the phone. >> so sometimes there would be more than just you on the phone with him? >> yes. >> okay. your honor, let me offer defendant's 2-a into evidence without objection.
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>> okay. it's marked as 2-a? >> that's what it says. >> where would we get a 2-a? oh, i didn't know that -- this isn't state's exhibit. okay, nobody told me they'd marked something up to -- and if it's stipulated into evidence, it would come in as 16. >> i have no objection, your honor. >> okay. what do you have premarked as exhibit 2-a will come into evidence as defense exhibit 16.
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>> judge, i've misplaced the extra card, just for reference. just for the witness' frame of reference, it's been -- ms. jeantel, this is a list of the time, the beginning time and end time of the calls between you and trayvon martin on february 26th. do you see what that looks like and see what it says? >> uh-huh. >> okay. i may ask you to use that to refresh your recollection or be able to -- >> it should be more.
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>> this call record begins at 5:09:36. do you see that? >> i see it, but it ain't begin at 5:09. it began around 12-something. >> right, right. so what you're saying is that there were more calls during the day between you and trayvon martin tan what are shown here on this list? >> yes. >> well, the list only starts at 5:09:36 p.m. do you see that? >> yes. >> and then the end time of the call is marked by the other column. there's a start time and then an end time. >> yes. >> so, for example, the first call starts at 5:09:36 and then ends at 6:30:01. you see that? >> yes. >> the next call starts at
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6:30:40 and then ended at 6:43:15. do you see that? >> yes. >> the next one starts at 6:41:05 and ends at 6:44:32. >> yes. >> and the next one starts at 6:45:01 and ends at 6:49:17. >> yes. >> the next one starts at 6:49:46 and ends at 6:53:31. >> yes. >> the next one starts at 6:53:47 and ends at 6:53:55. >> yes. >> the next one starts at 6:54:00 and ends at 6:54:33. >> yes. >> the next one starts at
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6:54:16 and ends at 7:11:47. >> yes. >> and the next and final call on the list starts at 7:12:06 and ends at 7:15:43. >> yes. >> and these are represented to be the various phone calls not necessarily that you made. they could be calls that mr. martin made to you. >> yes. >> but they were calls that you and mr. martin were on together that evening. >> yes. >> do you remember about what time trayvon martin told you he was leaving the house to go to the store? >> around 6:00. >> were you talking with him
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while he was on his way to the store? >> yes. >> and did you talk with him while he was at the store? >> yes. >> and then did you continue to talk with him after he left the store? >> do you know which of these phone calls might have been the time when he was at the store? >> no. >> there is a picture in evidence that shows mr. martin at the 7-eleven at 6:23 in the afternoon. using that as a frame of referen reference, do you remember talking to mr. martin while he was inside the store? >> yes. >> then there's also in evidence a telephone call that was made in connection with mr. martin
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being in the neighborhood at 7:09. you don't see that one on here, but i'm pointing that out to you for that time frame. from 6:23:49 until 7:09:11, i think. is that right? that time period is what i'd like to concentrate on for the moment. are you with me? >> no, you lost me. >> trayvon martin was in the 7-eleven getting the snacks you talked about -- >> yes. >> -- at 6:23:49, okay? his picture was taken by the camera at the store that's marked on that date and time. >> uh-huh. >> and then the telephone call to the police that mr. zimmerman
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made is at 7:09:34. so that's the time period i'd like to concentrate on for the moment. >> uh-huh. >> so knowing that mr. martin left the store at 6:23:49 or thereabouts and mr. zimmerman saw him in the retreat at twin lakes complex at 7:09:34, are you able to tell me about what you and mr. martin talked about during that time period and where, if any, where he went other than to the complex where his father's fiance was staying? >> that night? >> yes.
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>> the rain got him, the rain -- he got caught by the rain. he was at the mailing place, the mailing area. >> so did he tell you then as he left the store that it started to rain? >> yes. >> and that he ran to the, or walked quickly to the mail area? >> shortcut. >> pardon me? >> a shortcut to the mail area. >> a shortcut from where to where? do you have any idea? >> no. >> but he told you that he was going to run over to the mail area? >> yes. >> do you know if that was the mail area that was in the complex where he was staying or was that perhaps in another complex in between the store and where he was staying? >> the complex that he was staying on. because i had asked him where he was at. he said he's in a place where his father staying at. >> it's also been indicated that it's about a mile, give or take
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a little, from the store to the complex where he was staying. >> i don't know where -- i don't know -- i never been there. >> you don't have any idea what the distance might be? >> no, i never been there. >> so what i'm trying to understand from you at this point is, do you have any idea where trayvon martin went between leaving the store at about 6:23 in the late afternoon before the phone call was made at 7:09:34? >> wait, what? repeat what you saying. i'm confused. repeat. >> well, there's about 35 or 40 minutes there between when he left the store and when he was seen in the complex. so i'm trying to understand from you, do you have any idea where he went or what he was doing at that point? >> he was at the mailing place
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talking, telling me to check the television for the all-star game, did it start. >> but he had to go about a mile to get from the store to what you believe is the mail place. was there any conversation about where he was going or why it would take him so long to get there? >> he was talking around. >> in any event, what you believe is after he left the store, he went right over to the mail place in the -- >> yeah, the rain had caught him. >> i'm sorry? >> the rain had caught him -- he got caught by the rain, and he did a shortcut to the mailing area. >> so are you saying then that what you believe anyway, that he was in the vicinity of the mail area? >> he was right by the place
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at -- the place where the house is at, i think. >> i don't follow you, sorry. i'm trying to get a sense of perspective. as far as you can tell from what you remember saying was that when trayvon martin said to you that he was in the mail area, that you believed -- >> he was standing under the mail area. >> and you don't have any information as to where he went or why it took him so long to get there? >> no. >> let's talk for a minute about how you came to be involved in the case. do i understand correctly that the night of the event you
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believed it was just a fight and that you did not think it was necessarily important to call anybody and tell them that you were on the phone with trayvon martin when whatever happened happened? >> i don't understand what you talking about. what part you at? the day -- the time -- i thought i got off the phone with trayvon. >> at that point, i believe you said that when the phone disconnected -- >> i had called back. >> and you got no answer. >> no answer. >> and you believed that it was just a fight. >> and then i believe -- i told you i had believed that it was just a fight and he already told me he was by his father house, so i thought his father was going to help him, and i did hear, like, sounds from the background that people could help him. so i never thought it was that deadly serious. so i had called back a number
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before. >> so your impression that night was that whatever happened, it was a fight, correct? >> yeah, that broke out. >> and you don't know exactly how it broke out. correct? >> no. >> what you do know, though, is there a point in time when trayvon martin was saying to you he had lost the guy. >> yes. >> and that after that there was a time when he said he sees him. >> again. >> again. >> yes. >> and at that point, you told him to run, and he said no. >> because -- he said no because he was right by his father house. in my mind he's like a couple houses away. >> so what he did instead was that he turned to george zimmerman and said, why you
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following me? >> no. >> that's the first thing you heard, wasn't it? >> i had closed the door. i had a bluetooth on. i had bluetooth on, and he would have told me that he was going to turn around. he did not tell me he was going to turn around. none of that. or he would just end the phone call with me and say i'll call you back if he was going to do that. >> after he told you that he saw the man again -- >> he had saw the man again -- >> the next thing you heard him say was, why you following me? >> objection, your honor. asked and answered. >> overruled. >> next thing i heard -- next thing i heard, i had closed the door, and i had said trayvon. why you following me, yes. you right.
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you can go. you can go. >> i'm sorry. it takes me a little bit of time sometimes to come up with the next question. >> you can go. >> okay. so at that point then is when you heard what you believe trayvon martin to have said, why you following me? >> yes. >> at that point, george zimmerman said, what are you talking about? >> what you doing around here. what are you doing around here? >> when you talked with mr. crump -- do you remember talking with mr. crump on the phone? >> yeah -- no, not really. >> you don't really remember that? >> no, because that day i was not really wanting to talk to him that much because i don't know him. i did not know him around that time. i was so shaken up with
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everything. that day i really just rush on everything. the interview, the -- everything that was going on. the only thing i thought about going on that day was just the letter. the letter. >> maybe what we should do then is sort of fill in some of the gaps. if you don't follow me, just let me know. after the event on february 26th -- >> yes. >> then a day or two later you realized that trayvon martin had died. >> yes. >> and that you realized that you were the last person to have talked with him. >> yes. >> and you didn't report that to anyone. >> they say they had got the person who shot trayvon. i never thought i was a witness
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for this situation. >> we'll take that in smaller pieces, if we could. you realize then that you were the last person to have spoken with trayvon martin. >> yes. >> but you did not report it to law enforcement. >> no. i thought they supposed to call you. call the person, like track the number down, see who's the last person if somebody got shot. >> oh, you thought they were supposed to call you? >> yeah. they never did. so i thought i wasn't a witness. and they had got the person -- they already had the person who shot trayvon. my thought was that people -- >> you had learned that trayvon martin died and the person who had shot him had been identified. >> yes, and was arrested. >> was arrested, okay. so you thought case closed. >> yeah. >> so you didn't contact anyone
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to say that you were the last person to have talked with him. >> friends. they knew. >> right, not law enforcement or -- >> no. >> -- or parents or anything like that? >> no. >> so you thought then that somebody at some point would figure that out with the cell phones and contact you? >> yes. that's not what officers do? do you watch "first 48"? >> i didn't heard you. >> did you watch "first 48"? they call the first number the person talked to. >> i'm sorry, "first 48"? >> a show. "first 48." when a victim died, they called the number that the victim called before. they ain't call my number, so -- and they had already got the person, so case closed, i thought. >> so some time passed, i take t and you just assumed the case
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was overwith. >> yeah, they will had the person who shot him. >> and then that changed, i take it. you realized that, in fact, george zimmerman had not been arrested. >> well, that sunday after the father had called me that second time. >> you realized sometime between february 26th and the time that tracy martin contacted you that george zimmerman had, in fact -- >> february 26th? >> right. >> i thought he was arrested. >> on february 26th, trayvon martin died. >> february 26th they said trayvon got shot and trayvon -- the person who shot trayvon was
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arrested. >> when did you learn that? >> my friend told me, like -- when i learned that was, like, the day -- that was a tuesday. >> the two days afterwards? >> yeah, and when i really found out that he was dead. >> okay. and then nobody else had called you about the case, so you didn't take it upon yourself to talk with anybody about anybody in law enforcement or anybody connected with -- >> no, i never thought i was a witness. >> and then some time passed, about march 18th, is that correct? >> 17th. >> march 17th. >> saturday. >> pardon me? >> saturday, march -- i think it was a saturday. >> it was a saturday in march, about the middle of march. >> yes. >> around the 17th or 18th, probably. >> 17th.
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that was a saturday. >> could you check that? you believe the 17th was a saturday? it could have been. i don't know. that same weekend is when you got the call -- >> the first phone call from his father -- he had asked me, he say i'm the last person who had talked to trayvon. >> so did he tell you that he found the -- >> no -- well, yes, he had seen the last person who talked to trayvon. >> so he, mr. martin, contacted you and said he believed that you may have been the last person to talk with his son trayvon? >> he saw me -- he see on his son's phone, i don't know, phone record i was the last person that talked to trayvon. >> what you took from that was
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that mr. martin had somehow identified your number -- >> yeah. >> -- as the last number and called you about it. >> had talked, talked to trayvon. >> correct, that the numbers matched up. the last one on the list. >> yes. >> at that point, did you know anything more about the case? >> no. >> you didn't know that by then george zimmerman had not been arrested? >> no. i don't watch the news. >> nobody at school, nobody said your friend trayvon martin was killed and -- >> no. >> -- and the person who shot him hasn't been arrested. you had no idea? >> no, no. >> in any event, when -- how about at the wake that you talked about. i know you didn't go, but that was early march, correct? march 2nd or 3rd, around there.
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do you know? >> march 2nd. >> you had some friends that went. >> yeah. >> had anybody gone to the wake that they knew george zimmerman had not yet been arrested? >> they didn't know either. they would have told me. they did not know either. they would have told me. trust me, they was texting me like crazy. >> uh-huh. >> what was going on at the wake. they would have told me, but they didn't tell me that. they didn't even know either. after i brought it up like sunday that i had got a call for his father. >> so in other words, there wasn't any talk at school, there wasn't any talk -- >> huh-uh. i was trying to forget about it. >> nothing in the news that you heard? >> i don't watch the news. the only time i watch the news is the weather. >> uh-huh.
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so by march 17th or 18th, you still didn't know that george zimmerman had not been arrested? >> no. >> you talked with tracie martin and he said would you talk with his lawyer? >> that sunday, i had receive aid call from a 954 number. >> let's back up first though to the conversation with tracy martin. >> that's the day that he told me, well, not me but would you talk to my attorney. >> so in the call where he said he thinks you were the last person to talk with trayvon martin, he wanted you to talk to. >> to my attorney. >> and he did not ask you in that telephone call to contact law enforcement? >> no. >> but he wanted you to talk with his attorney? >> yes. >> did you know that he had an attorney at that point? >> no. >> had you seen any press
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conferences or any news whatsoever where his attorney spoke. >> i don't watch news. i do not watch news. >> so mr. martin asked you if you'll talk with his attorney, correct? >> yes. >> and then the next thing that happened was you got a call from a 954 number? >> yes. >> and who was that? >> his father. i'm sorry. i thought you were talking with his -- with trayvon mar ten's father and he wanted you to talk with the attorney. >> yes. >> what happened next? >> that was just it. >> did you agree? >> well, yes. >> and at that point, you agreed because you thought this was a racial thing of some sort? >> what? the situation? >> yeah. yeah. >> not really.
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because i'm really confused. >> didn't you say that in your statement that the reason you got involved was because you thought it was a racial thing? >> what interview? >> we'll come back to to that but let's continue with the sequence. so after you had the conversation with mr. martin, he ba wanted you to talk with his attorney. >> yes. >> and then did you make arrange"s to do that? >> yes. well, no. >> who made arrangements? >> the next -- nobody. we just hung up the phone. that's it. >> and then did you wait for someone to call you? is. >> yes. >> and who called you at that point? >> not that day. the next day. march the 19th. that was i an monday. >> that monday, i went to school. i had got a phone call. i did not answer. they left a voice message.
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and then they left me a long text. >> when you say they, who are you speaking of? >> his mother. >> and do you know. >> his mother. >> you know trayvon's mother to be sybrina fulton? >> yes. >> and sybrina fulton sent you a text wanting you to talk with the attorney? >> yes. >> and you agreed to do that will later that day? >> yes, wanted to talk to my mother before i could -- before she can agree for me to talk to her and her attorney. >> your mother was out of the corrupt though. >> yes. >> so -- >> she didn't know my mother was out of the corrupt. she didn't know my mama. >> no, i was just confirming that you knew your mother was out of the country. >> yes. >> and you wanted to talk with your mother? >> she wanted to talk to my mother. she didn't know my age. >> you lied to her and said you were 16?
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>> yes. >> did you get that down? >> she wanted to speak to my mother before she talked to me. >> did you say -- she didn't know my age. >> thank you. >> miss fulton wanted to talk with your mother. >> before she talked to me. >> and is that because you lied about your age? >> she didn't know my age. she thought i was a minor just like trayvon. >> but you weren't we'll? you were 18. >> yes. >> so you could make the decision yourself? >> yes. >> and is that what happened? >> kind of. i had called her. my mother had a cell phone. you can reach her out of town. i called her. i didn't tell her everything. i just told her to say no.
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and she -- she agreed to the interview. >> your mother agreed to allow you to be interviewed by the martin family attorney? >> yes. i had told her don't say -- because i really did not want to meet the mother definitely that way, situation. >> i didn't hear you. >> i really did not want to meet the mother that way in the situation. of her son. >> you didn't want to meet. >> i sybrina. >> you didn't want to meet her because of the situation? >> yes. >> so instead you agreed to the interview with her attorney. >> yes. she just asked me to speak to her attorney, and then -- you get me confused. can i tell you what happened that day? that day? that march 19th, that day?
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>> is that the day that you had the interview? >> yes. >> well, sure. it might be easier if you just go ahead and tell it and then we'll go from there. >> all right. that monday, i had got a phone call. i did not answer. i had a text by sybrina. she had told me. hi, this is sybrina. blah, blah, i didn't know anything. well, can i speak to your mother please? and i had told her that my mother would deal with the situation later. and she had said okay. just tell your mother and reach me on this number. and i said okay. so that day, and that day after school, i had called my mother and i had told her if she -- because i know they wanted to meet up with me. >> who is they? i don't mean to interrupt. >> her.
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>> who wanted to meet up with you. her, sybrina, the mother 0 speak to me what happened about that night that her son died. and i had told my mother, i told her to say no because my plan was to give her that letter, just give it to her, not me but one of my friends who had known her who was working for her. give her the letter and i'll be done with it. >> so. >> but when my mother had -- i put my mother on three-way. i put my mother on three-way. i had called her and then i had to explain to her not everything to say no and then i called my mother and i caused sybrina and
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i already told my mother what to say and i left the phone for like two minutes and next thing i hear, hear her agree for me to meet sybrina. >> all right. so your mother agreed? >> to the interview. >> for you. >> to meet sybrina. >> to meet with the miss fulton. >> yes. >> and did you -- and you thought that if you did, that would be the end of it? >> what? >> i thought you said you could meet with her or you could give her a letter and that would be the end of it. >> well, tell her a little bit about what happened. she texted me to say what happened that night when her son died. >> of course. you would certainly expect that, wouldn't you? >> yeah. >> of course. who wouldn't? so at that point, no one had
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talked with you about what you knew that had happened? >> yeah. >> okay. so you agreed to talk with miss fulton and tell her what happened? >> yeah. i agreed. >> you didn't really want to? >> no. >> did you feel like you were caught in the middle? >> what? >> did you feel like you were caught in the middle here? >> no. it just -- i -- the truth. >> so this is march -- >> i never wanted to see somebody cry. i'm not the kind of person who wants to see people cry. >> of course. >> i'm not an emotional person. just her son dead. >> so you knew then that
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