dr. vincent di marx -- maio. he is the defense's first witness of the day. >> craig melvin reporting outside the courthouse in sanford and we will take you inside the courthouse now. this is the forensic pathologist, the gunshot expert, dr. di maio. >> 1981 when you began your work at the bexar county medical examiner's office, were you able to work as a consultant privately in other cases outside bexar county? >> yes, sir. >> what kind of work would you do in that regard? >> mostly civil cases and then a few criminal cases. outside bexar county, i could testify for the defense for prosecution. i did -- you don't do many private criminal cases, such as like what i'm doing now. i'd run about, you know, two to four a year at the most. >> you have been working as a consultant since the beginning of 2007 then, if i've done the math correctly. i'm sorry. exclusively as a -- >> right, since january of 2007. >> in other words, you've been in private practice as a consultant since january of 2007? >> yes. >> and the majo

dr. vincent di maio. >> reporter: of course. the lights on behind me, this is a see quested jury so they are getting as much done as fast as they can and accomplished so much with the witness you just talked about. dr. vincent di maio. heard of him? probably. he's like the grand dad of pathology, he was the medical examiner in beaux county in texas and made incredible arguments, so many points the prosecution made. listen to the first part, he goes after what the prosecution said. first of all, if george zimmerman tried to put out trayvon von martin's hands after she hot him, why were the hands under the body f. george zimmerman said trayvon mapp martin said you got me, how is that possible after being shot in the heart? listen to his explanation. >> even if i, right now, reached across, put my hand through your chest, grabbed your heart and ripped it out, you could stand there and talk to me for 10 to 15 seconds or walk over to me, because the thing that's controlling your move the and ability to speak is the brain, and that ha

dr. vincent di maio. the jury was not called into the court until 10:30 this morning so the defense could hear arguments about whether an animated depiction of george zimmerman describing the shooting was allowed to be seen. let's go now to msnbc's craig melvin who has been following the trial in sanford. craig, we just had via video link the testimony of elloise dilligard, who was a resident in the twin lakes area and knew george zimmerman as a member of neighborhood watch. >> reporter: yeah, and martin, what you just said is about all we've gotten so far out

dr. vincent di maio. the jury was not called into the court until 10:30 this morning so the defense could hear arguments about whether an animated depiction of george zimmerman describing the shooting was allowed to be seen. let's go now to msnbc's craig melvin who has been following the trial in sanford. craig, we just had via video link the testimony of elloise dilligard, who was a resident in the twin lakes area and knew george zimmerman as a member of neighborhood watch. >> reporter: yeah, and martin, what you just said is about all we've gotten so far out of elloise dilligard, again, a residents there in the same gated condo complex as george zimmerman. she is testifying via facetime because she is under the weather. again, at this point not exactly sure how her testimony is going to fit into the larger defense strategy here, but elloise dilligard, she's been on the stand now for about 5 or 10 minutes. we also found out just before she began to testify, martin, that according to mark o'mara, she is g

dr. vincent di maio.ic evidence is consistent with the fatal shooting. >> the wound itself by the gap, by the powder tattooing in the face of a contact of the clothing indicates that this is consistent with mr. zimmerman's account that he -- that mr. martin was over him leaning forward at the time he was shot. >> forensic pathologist dr. vincent di maio joins us. nice to see you, sir. >> nice o to see you. >> as i understand it, the words you used is consistent with. those are -- that's not that you are certain or probably. >> no. >> just that you can't -- what does it mean? consistent with? >> in this case it means confirmatory of mr. zimmerman's account of what happened. it confirms his account. >> is there any doubt in your mind, i mean, is it an expert opinion -- when you say confirms, do you say you have no doubt in your mind that it occurred as george zimmerman described it? >> that's correct, greta. >> is it -- when you made that determination, what did you look at? did you look at pictures or clot

dr. vincent di maio, who testified the evidence he reviewed supports zimmerman's account of shooting martin martin was on top of him. he also testified there were six impact injuries to george zimmerman's face and head. but on cross-examination, the prosecutor showed the doctor a picture of george zimmerman's bloody nose and the prosecutor put his hand over the nose and mouth and asked, what should be on the hand? and he said blood. zimmer man has said martin was covering his mouth while they struggled, yet no blood was found on martin's hands. the defense is expected to rest its case, which means this jury could be charged before the end of this week. >> ron mott, sanford, florida again tonight. ron, thanks. >>> still ahead for us this evening, medical marijuana, adults, of course, have been using it for years. now a growing number of parents say it's working for their kids. of course, not without a lot of controversy. >>> and later on tonight, the anticipation in the air in london, with a big arrival on the way. because growers can breed the plants with low levels of thc, they're getting

dr. vincent di maio. they're not always the most dynamic people in the world. that one bucks the trend. he's facing right over to the jury of almost all women. he's explaining this in a folksy manner and cracking jokes of getting the court to laugh about being bald. he's a real get for the defense. you're going to hear that. what did it cost to get you? it happens every time. i want to bring in some of the best experts on the case now. faith jenkins, former criminal defense attorney and danny, that last shot where you could see don west at the podium asking his questions and you could see the prosecutor almost shaking his head in his hand. i know you could feel the pain and suffering of that prosecutor and the elation of the defense attorney. >> right. the prosecutor know in order to get a conviction in this case they have to paint a picture of george zimmerman as a liar, repeatedly he's lied. he's given a number of inconsistent statements and one of the things they wanted to argue, they still want to argue is george zim mezimmerman lied e did with the hands. when the police got there h

dr. vincent di maio walked methodically through his review of the evidence. he said the gun was pressed against his close the night the teenager was killed and was conscious for 10 to 15 seconds after the fatal shot. in the face of the contact of the clothing indicates that this is consistent with mr. zimmerman's account that mr. , leanings over him forward at the time of the shots. >> at times using a photo of a bloodied george zimmerman, he told the jury that his wounds were consistent with being punched. zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and told police he killed martin in self-defense. >> are his injuries consistent with mr. zimmerman's head making contact with the sidewalk westmark >> yes. >> the prosecution was quick. they made the point that he only relied on mr. zimmerman's account and is ago evidence to form his opinions. >> i'm seeing the physical evidence is consistent with mr. martin being over mr. zimmerman. >> is it not also consistent with mr. martin pulling away from zimmerman on the ground, and at the same angle he is p

dr. vincent di maio took the stand after evidence presented to him by the defense, di maio reached this conclusionlean over somebody, you'll notice that the clothing tends to fall away from the chest. if, instead, you're lying on your back, somebody shoots you, the clothing is going to be against your chest. >> reporter: di maio told jurors zimmerman's account that trayvon martin was on top of him is consistent with the evidence he examined. it's because of the spray pattern around the bullet wound, grains of powder that hit the skin, di maio determined the muzzle was two to four inches away from the skin. he also concluded martin may have been alive one to three minutes after the shooting. in cross-examination, the prosecution got di maio to concede the scenario could have been different. >> i'm saying that the physical evidence is consistent with mr. martin being over mr. zimmerman. >> is it not also consistent with mr. martin pulling away from zimmerman on the ground? and you would have the same angle, he's pulling away, and zimmerman's shooting him at that time? >> yes. >> reporter: defense at

dr. vincent di maio. he's on the stand and this guy wrote the book about csi and forensic pathology. let's see where he gets and how far he gets. let's go live. >> followed by the bullet and then followed by the soot or the burning powder behind it. >> right. and that's why blanks, people think blank cartridges are dangerous -- are not dangerous. you can kill yourself with them. if you take a gun with a blank cartridge and put it against your chest, the gas formed will just tear right through your skin and muscle into your lung. and people, you know, kid around and will put it to their head. they could die. it goes right in -- you don't need the bullet to kill you with contact wounds. >> let's continue, though, with some of your experience and some of your writings. have you written any articles about head trauma, in particular? >> yes, i wrote one peer-reviewed article and then i've written a chapter in my book on forensic pathology, on head injuries. >> head injuries, meaning such thing as blunt force trauma to the head? >> right. >> i think you mentioned that you also have served

dr. vincent di maio says forensic evidence is consistent with zimmerman's story. gunpowder burns showed trayvon martin was over zimmerman when he shot and killed the teenager. >> the clothing was 2 to 4 inches away, consistent with someone leaning over the person doing the shooting. >> reporter: that is how zimmerman described it to police after the shooting. >> he was on top of me like this. i shot him. i didn't think i hit him. he sat up and said you got me. >> reporter: he also said the teenager could have lived up to three minutes after being shot and could have moved his arms under his body after zimmerman had spread them out. the defense is trying to convince jurors zimmerman acted in self-defense but the prosecution says that doctor's testimony doesn't positive who started the fight that led to martin's death. >> you're not saying who attacked who, whether it was george zimmerman attacked trayvon martin or it was trayvon martin who attacked george zimmerman. >> that's correct. >> reporter: they got the witness to admit he was being paid but the doctor's tes

dr. vincent di maio had to say about the human body's ability to not only survive but fully function afternow reached across, put my hand through your chest, grabbed your heart and ripped it out, you could stand there and talk to me for 10 to 15 seconds or walk over to me because the thing that's controlling your movement and ability to speak is the brain. and that has a reserve supply of 10 to 15 seconds. now, that's minimum. that assumes no blood is going to the brain. >> linda, that's a rather fantastic description of how the brain controls the body more than the heart does. i don't know if i personally find it all that credible, but do you think that that testimony lends credibility to the notion that george zimmerman did not overdramatize what happened after the shooting? >> well, after you get the shock value of thinking about that, which i do think it was a terrible example to say, it is true that you can talk for about 10 seconds after you've been shot. you do have that reserve. that's possible. i think where he took it a little bit longer is the fact that trayvon somehow on the gr

dr. vincent di maio was called by zimmerman as defense attorneys after they spent two hours making a casein animation depicting the struggle between trayvon martin and zimmerman should be allowed. prosecutors oppose the use of the animation. the judge says she will make a decision later in the day. zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder, he is pleading not guilty claiming he fatally shot martin in self-defense. >> following the latest out of a deadly train derailment in canada, 13 people are now dead and more than 50 are still missing from this weekend's crash. investigators looking into the fiery train derailment in quebec are focusing on an earlier blaze on the same train and now a series of actions balling it may have caused a locomotive's brakes to fail several hours later. here's a look at some of the video of the aftermath. at least five of the trains and tankers exploded after coming was early saturday speeding downhill nearly 7 mi. in the ring in the town of lac_megantic. look at 'em. living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom

dr. vincent di maio. are talking about the evidence in this case and the gunshot that killed trayvon martin. he is a forensic pathologist and a gunshot expert. we expect the meat of that to get under way very soon but most of the morning in front of just those in the courtroom, not the jury, the question of whether or not to allow an animation, that the defense had created, that gives george zimmerman's version of events the night of that shooting. we are still waiting for a decision from the judge on that. we will take a quick broke and be back. that does it for me. i'm chris jansing. see you tomorrow and thomas roberts is up next with more live coverage of the george zimmerman trial. credit card purchases and even your bills. for seeing your spending by category or by month. so you can set a budget and get alerts when you're running low. for keeping track of your spending to see when you're coming close to the limit you've set. for seeing how pnc virtual wallet® can help you manage your money in one sim

dr. vincent di maio said the bullet hole in trayvon martin's clothing and body proved a point, it was martin on top of george zimmerman as they struggled. a gunshot expert said he could tell it was martin on top of zimmerman because even though the gun was touching the hoodie, the hoodie was not touching martin's skin. >> the fact we know the clothing was 2 to 4 inches away is consistent with somebody leaning over the person doing the shooting, and that the clothing is 2 to 4 inches away from the person firing. >> reporter: di maio countered the medical examiner's testimony for the prosecution who said martin could have survived and suffered up to ten minutes after she was shot. di maio said shot in the heart, martin would have been unconscious in 10 to 15 seconds. >> he's going to be dead within 1 to 3 minutes after being shot in this case. >> reporter: finally, demayo testified that zimmerman's injuries fit his account saying his review of photographs indicated zimmerman's head suffered at least six impacts against a hard surface. >> is this insjury consistent with mr. zimmerman's head hav

dr. vincent di maio was, quote, awe inspiring. he also said the knock-knock joke in it the opening remarks was horrible, nobody got it. that's a quote. everybody knows lawyers are supposed to be jealous advocates for their clients. yet, after watching the entirety of these proceedings, a lot of people are wondering whether justice was serving and if this is what lawyering is supposed to look like. let's open it up and ask our illustrious panel. we have seema ayer, a former prosecutor and defense attorney. as well as our good friend prosecutor patrick murphy. thanks for being here, guys. seema, let me start with you. based on what we saw in this trial, was this fairly representative of what people should expect to see in criminal trials around the country? >> for the defense, it was fairly representative. there was zealous advocacy. there was tireless effort. for the prosecution, i've said it once, i've said it again, they fell way below the standard of what prosecutors normally perform like. they were not prepared enough. their pr

dr. vincent di maio. it has never been refuted in this case. the prosecution has the burden of proof to show this is not a self-defense killing beyond a reasonable doubt. the prosecution has gone far away from getting that point across. >> midwin charles, what did you see -- if you're the defense lawyer, what did you see in the prosecution argument today that you need to make sure you address? >> if i'm the defense lawyer, i focus on the fact that it was all the questions the state threw out. if i were the defense attorney, i would have my legal intern go home tonight and go through all the number of questions that they asked during their closing argument, which is not what you're supposed to do as a prosecutor. you're supposed to say with certainty exactly how it happened. how did the fight start? who threw the first punch? all we know for certain is how the fight ended. and that is one of the biggest problems with today's closing arguments by the prosecution. >> judge alex, i was a little surprised that the prosecutor, who is going to get reb

dr. vincent di maio--which, the defense says, validates zimmerman's version of the shooting. ".the clothing itself had to be two to four inches away from the body at the time mr. martin was shot. this is consistent with mr.zimmerman's account that he, that mr. martin, was over him, leaning forward at the time he was shot." i'm andrew spencer kron 4 news. >>james:judge nelson will also take up the issue of a defense witness violating sequestration. the defense told the judge that it plans to rest its case sometime on today. >>anny:wikileaks says edward snowden, hasn't yet formally accepted asylum in venezuela. a prominent russian lawmaker tweeted that snowden had, in fact, accepted that offer -- but the posting was deleted a few minutes later. snowden has applied for asylum in a number of countries, and it's not clear just how easy it would be for him to travel to south america from moscow. the bolivian president -- along with the leaders of venezuela and nicaragua -- have said snowden is welcome in their countries. snowden was on his plane. >>james:canadian authorities have now opened a cri

dr. vincent di maio was clearly their best witness. he's friendly. he's ameable. he takes complex medical terms and translates them into english so everybody can understand. he's just a charming older gentleman. contentwise he said essentially george zimmerman's story is consistent with the medical and scientific testimony and the prosecution didn't get monuch o of him. >> this back and forth is taking place outside of what the jury is hearing. clearly this animal, the defense, it's very important to them. >> well, it's important to then because it brings the whole case together. i think a lot of people have asked the question , you know, how is some of this story physically possible. help said he was down. he was being punched. how could trayvon martin reached for the gun? is it consistent with the stories zimmerman gave to the police? the defense wants to put all that together by way of animation. animations are common in court although more so in criivil cas than criminal cases. >> defense gave the indication they thought they could wrap it up told, so how many

dr. vincent di maio took the stand. after being presented with evidence by the defense, di maio reached this conclusion. >> if you lean over somebody, you'll notice that the clothing tends to fall away from the chest. if, instead, you're lying on your back, and somebody shoots you, the clothing is going to be against your chest. >> reporter: di maio told jurors zimmerman's account that trayvon martin was on top of him is consistent with the evidence he examine. it's because of the spray pattern around the bullet wound, grains of powder that hit the skin, di maio determined the muzzle was two to four inches away from the skin. he also concluded martin may have been alive one to three minutes after the shooting. the prosecution got di maio to concede the scenario could have been different. >> i'm saying that the physical evidence is consistent with mr. martin being over mr. zimmerman. >> is it not also consistent with mr. martin pulling away zimmerman on the ground? and you would have the same angle, he's pulling away, and

dr. vincent di maio, an expert on gunshot wounds, was called as a defense witness. in his analysis, when zimmerman pulled the trigger, the gun's muzzle was 2 to 4 inches away from martin's chest. >> this is consistent with mr. zimmerman's account that he -- that mr. martin was over hip, leaning forward, at the time he was shot. >> reporter: that is zimmerman's claim. martin was on top of him, beating his head into a concrete sidewalk and he killed the teenager to save his own life. prosecutors asking whether the gunshot wound could indicate that martin was pulling away from zimmerman. >> trayvon martin was backing up, backing away in terms of providing an angle, whether he was goingrd t forward, you can' say. >> all i said is it's consistent with his account, mr. zimmerman's account, that's all. >> reporter: di maio testified zimmerman's head had at least six injuries, consistent with having his head hit concrete. as this divisive case nears its e end, the cities have develop, a respond plan for the verdict. the sheriff's office in broward county put out this public

dr. vincent di maio. listen in, wait a sec. we are going to ask him who the next witness is going to be. it is fun to watch how this plays out especially when you don't get the witness list in advance. it is a surprise to everyone of us when they walk through the big old doors as to who is going to take the stand next in this trial. i will let you know the entire wrap up shortly. next up we are waiting on two key witnesses we know could be called, benjamin crump. he has been out of the courtroom this whole time because they may have him testify. it is also not mr. robert zimmerman. let's listen up. >> do you swear the testimony presented will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. thank you. >> that didn't take long. we are in a side bar before we get the witness up and running. the damage that was done this morning throughout the course of just a couple of hours to the prosecution's case cannot be understated. the lawyers who are litigating this case are powerful and strong and smart but that

dr. vincent di maio a renounced forensic pathologist and expert pon gunshot wounds was called. his analysis is when zimmerman pulled the gun it was 2 to 4 inches away from mr. martin's chest. >> this was consistent with mr. zimmerman's account that mr. martin was over him leaning forward at the time he was shot. >> reporter: that was mr. zimmerman's claim. martin was over him beating his head into the sidewalk and he pulled the trigger to save his own life. >> trayvon martin was backing up backing away in terms of providing an angle or whether he was going to move forward. you can't say. >> all i said is it's consistent with it. >> he had six injuries with his fight with martin injured with having his head hit concrete. as this divisive case nears the end, they have developed a response plan for the verdict. the sheriff's office in broward county florida, put out this public service announcement. >> i'm sheriff israel and law enforcement does have your back. >> it will be interesting to hear what her demeanor is and everyone else's after the marathon session. she essentially wa

dr. vincent di maio.any people believed that he really nailed it on the part of the defense as showing quite clearly that the body, trayvon martin's body was the key evidence that verified george zimmerman's story here. that could have been the time for the defense to rest, but they didn't. they brought this person on, it went on for hours, it had mixed statements about what he was able to determine, and you weren't insure what sort of expert witness was he? so i'm not sure that they gained a lot by putting him on the stand. i'm talking about the defense. >> all right. stand by, everyone. we're going to continue to monitor what's happening inside the courtroom. right now they're arguing whether or not some key testimony from earlier in the week should be allowed to remain testimony for the jurors to consider, even though the person who delivered that testimony, john donnelly, a vietnam war combat medic, violated what's called that sequestration rule to avoid watching the trial, talking about the case unti

dr. vincent di maio, holding up a photo of zimmerman's bloody nose.ense is trying to suggest based on those photos the forensic pathologist can convince the jury zimmerman was taking a beating of blunt force trauma before pulling the trigger. the defense is really hammering the position trayvon martin was on top straddling zimmerman when zimmerman pulled the trigger. for the third time in the trial, trayvon martin's hoodie with a bullet hole in the chest was brought out for the jury to see. powder tattoo marks and gunshot residue suggest zimmerman shot from the ground up. >> the barrel of the gun was against the clothing, the muzzle of the gun was against the clothing but the clothing itself had to be two to four inches away from the body. at the time mr. martin was shot. >> reporter: early this morning, earlier this morning without the jury present a defense expert used his laptop to show the judge how his high-tech forensic computer animation works. the defense wants the jury to see their animation depicting the last few minutes of martin's life, th

dr. vincent dimaio. as jurors took notes, dr. di maio laid out his findings that george zimmerman suffered six impact injuries to his face and head. and that while the gun was against trayvon martin's sweatshirt when the trigger was pulled, the sweatshirt was 2 to 4 inches away from his body, consistent with someone leaning over another person, as zimmerman described to investigators. >> the medical evidence, the gunshot wound, is consistent with his opinion -- with his statement as to that. >> during cross-examination, demayo agreed that martin could have been pulling away when he was shot and that bruises from a fight could take days to appear or not appear at all. >> in other words, george zimmerman could have hit trayvon martin and not left any bruising on his knuckles. >> that's correct. >> legal analysts say the doctor was a strong witness for the defense. >> dr. di maio was most effective in his cross-examination. he was calm, he understood the questions. he didn't give an answer when questions seemed to implicate a different answ

dr. vincent di maio testifying. joining us, lisa bloom. what's up with this trial?day for the defense and that was the best witness for the defense because he said zimmerman's story is consistent with all the scientific and medical evidence. the prosecutor was very easy on him on cross examination in my opinion. let him get away with some stuff. but the way the jury heard it, very good day for the defense. >> how long is the defense going to be? >> they're supposed to finish today. george zimmerman will not be taking the stand. there were some late-night arguments till 10:00 p.m. when the judge said she had it and walked out on the defense attorney when he was still talking about whether some additional evidence should come in. the defense should probably finish. >> i'm fascinated by reasonable doubt. i used to think if there was any doubt, then that's reasonable doubt. can you give people a little clarity on that? >> not any doubt, reasonable doubt. what that means is the jury has to have an abiding conviction in their verdict. there's always going to be some doubt

one of the last witnesses to take the stand in george zimmerman's defense, pathologist, vincent di maio. dre mayo tells a story consistent with what george zimmerman says happened. >> mr. martin was over him, leaning forward, at the time he was shot. >> my head was on the cement. >> reporter: zimmerman told police, as they retraced the events on videotape, that martin repeatedly slammed his head into the concrete. in court tuesday, the jury again saw police evidence photos of zimmerman's head that night. >> what i'm saying is that you can get severe head trauma with actually without any marks on the head. >> reporter: zimmerman has said martin was covering his mouth during the struggle, but the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy says he found no blood on martin's hands. >> i put my hand over that, right? >> okay, yes. >> what do you expect my hand to have on it? >> blood. >> i got on top of him. >> reporter: another issue on tuesday. zimmerman told investigators he placed martin's arms out to his sides after the shooting. but according to police reports, martin's hands were under hi