to know what the grand jury is all about. s. this is our chance to participate in democracy. to investigate how our taxpayer dollars are being spent. and we need people to do those investigations, but we also need people to be aware of these investigations and the reports that come out. [speaker not understood] and potentially respond. you know, something they find very dear to their heart, they can call their newspaper and say, hey, i read this grand jury report. what are you going to do about it? or they can call the entity that is being investigating and ask, you know, what are you going to do about following up this list? so, it is very important for people to know about the civil grand jury. so, with that, i also want to say we train the juries. a lot of people say, actors coming out of the public, what do they know? at the state level they train for 2, 2-1/2 days about investigating, entering viewing, writing reports, what they can and cannot do according to the penal code. and we also train them at the local level about

here is the jury. all six of the jurors are women. the prosecution described five of the jurors as white. the sixth juror was described as hispanic or black. late today these jurors were sworn in by the judge. >> if you'll stand up and raise your right hands to be sworn. >> raise your right hand, please. do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will well and truly try this issue between the state of florida and the defense according to the laws and rend area true verdict, so help god? >> i do. >> thank you. >> you now have been sworn to be the jury in this case. >> one year, three months, and 25 days after the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin, a jury will now be asked to determine what happened on that rainy night. opening statements will begin monday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the case of the state of florida versus george zimmerman. joining me now criminal defense attorney, paul henderson and lisa bloom. thank you all for joining me. >> >> thanks for having us. >> what's your reaction? >> this is one of the most important s

whether the jury believes or not, we'll seattle. astigate her, to characterize her, to stereotype her and use all kinds of attacks i think is something that does an injustice to the criminal justice system, and only leads to what attorney vereen said, making people say i'm not going to come forward. i'm not going to help the system try to find justice because i will become a target rather than a help. >>> still ahead, inside the jury, how they've been reacting to the testimony. we'll talk live to a reporter who has been watching the jury's reaction all week. >>> and affordable health care is the law of the land, but republicans in 21 states are blocking access to care americans need. what can you do in response? we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly

>> well, i think the prosecution got the best jury they could under the circumstances. jury selection is not just a game of guesswork, it's a game of chance. and the folks come through. you do the best you can. but here is what is different about a murder trial. this is not a jury that is just going to shut off because there is a key witness that is maybe different than most of the folks that they know. i think this jury was working very hard and very attentively to get to the bottom of what she was saying. they know how important this is. and as you noted, the essential elements of her testimony stayed together and rang true. i think where this jury is right now after the first week, they're probably uncertain about a lot of things. they may not be sure what to make of rachel jeantel. but they believe trayvon martin was followed, was pursued by george zimmerman. and whatever else after that happened came about because george zimmerman ignored the dispatcher and went looking for this guy. >> because of the focus on jeantel, i want to play just a little bit of sound from

are we ready to bring the jury in? , your honor. >> the cross-examination will resume as soon as the jury is seated. six women, members of the jury, they were out while they were going to lawyers with the judge, reviewing what is admissible, what isn't admissible. and now they are about to resume the cross-examination. we'll have live coverage right after this. hey, look! a shooting star! make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! [ male announcer ] but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- on any new volkswagen. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got

the rest of the jury knows, too. so the prosecution starts out with this kind of taint of having done something proper. the jury knows it. >> that's exactly what's going to happen. >> how long do you see this trial going on for? >> i don't know. i mean, i don't think this is a case where you want it to go on longer or drag it out indefinitely. i think if you are in the defense camp on the case, you want to get this over as quickly as possible. i think it's to the prosecution's advantage to drag it out. ideally, so that they can get into some of these alternates that are there. i tell you, i cannot emphasize enough placing two of the jurors who the prosecution who had excused back into that jury box, it's crossed all their minds, in a case here that is so rationally charged, i can't even imagine what is going through the prosecutor's minds at this point. >> mark geragos, marsha clark, good to have you on. go to cnn.com, there is a lot more there. >>> next the fight over immigration reform, how it may reshape the republ

that's what the jury is critical. he was being -- trayvon martin was being pursued. >> kendall, they -- the defense was asking rachel to read a copy of a letter her friend wrote for her and gave it to trayvon martin's mother. listen to this. >> are you able to read that copy well enough that you can tell us if it's in fact the same letter? >> no. >> are you unable to read that at all? >> some i'm not. >> can you read any of the words on it? >> i don't understand. cur cursive. >> she admits she can't read cursive handwriting. does that admission in your opinion make her sympathetic? >> i don't think it affects the sympathy calculus a whole lot because the real question was she believable. i think the attorney pushing the point as he did unnecessarily may have been unsympathetic. but do i think that she is somebody that this jury easily connects to? i don't think so. whether or not the jury can relate to her in a normal sense of seeing somebody who might be their own daughter, or who might be their own niece or their ow

. >> who tells a joke in their opening statement off the topp at the expense of the jury! he's basically said you guys, you are all the only people stupid in enough in central florida to have never heard of george zimmerman and that's why you're on the jury. >> that's the point, joe. >> way to win friends. >> mocking the jury. >> and that's crazy. >> walking to the jury and saying to them you're a bunch of ignorant dopes. if i were george zimmerman i would fire my counsel and move for a mistrial right now. i would fire my -- seriously, fire my counsel. you can't start a -- your defense by mocking the jurors who are going to decide your fate. it's insane. >> i was explaining in law school, i'm sure you did it too, you do the mock trials, and they -- you do the trial and then they make you sit on the jury. >> right. >> i was saying, even there, after three years of law school, i'm sitting there thinking i'm going to pick apart everything, i was stunned and said so afterwards to the class, i was stunned that in those first few minutes your opinion is shaped of the two lawyers

the courtroom. is this something that could impact a jury and that the defense is concerned about, those ladies on theat a mother having to go through this? >> there is no doubt those jurors see trayvon martin's parents sitting in that courtroom, and they know about the emotional impact that that can have. five of six of these jurors are mothers. it is going to resonate with them when they hear that a 17-year-old kid with nothing but candy and a phone was killed while walking home from a store. so it is going to have an emotional impact. but the prosecutor knows that what they have in this case. the biggest thing they have in this case is the emotion of trayvon martin being killed. >> ken, the parents in or out. how important is that? you try cases in florida. >> absolutely. well, lisa bloom is correct. in florida, victims' families are allowed to be present. and it's a public courtroom. so anyone could be there, especially nonwitnesses. but family members especially are entitled to be in that courtroom. and the prosecutor wants those parents there because they're the physical embodiment of the victim

the jury will decide whether mr. zimmerman is guilty or not guilty in the shooting death of trayvon martin. joining me now is former prosecutor marsha clark and author of "killer ambition." former criminal prosecutor faith jenkins. thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> marsha, let me start with you. what's your reaction to today's ruling that prosecutors can use words like profiled and vigilante in their opening statements? will that have real bearing? >> it's a ruling that had to happen. there's no way the judge can stop the prosecution what saying what it's theory of the case is. the theory is zimmerman profiled trayvon martin and pursued him because he was black. that's the theory and he took justice into his own hands and he was a vigilante. that's their theory. whether they can prove it or not is another thing. >> mark, your reaction. what does this mean to you in terms of the fact the defense fought to keep it out. the judge put it in. is this a big defeat for the defense or is t

are we ready to bring the jury in? we're monitoring the decisions in the courtroom. lisa bloom, our msnbc legal analyst joins us now. lisa, the significance of the judge's decision on that testimony. >> well, the defense attorney wants to get in a prior deposition statement made by this witness that contradicts the testimony that she gave in court according to him, and the judge was making a ruling that he could get it in if she testifies now, now that she's coming back to the stand now that the jury's being brought back in in a way that's inconsistent with her prior testimony. that's what cross examination is all about, showing the jury that the witness has made inconsistent statements in the past and therefore they can't be believed. that's the idea. >> and how do you think her credibility has held up? >> you know, andreandrea, i hav tell you i have heard divergent views to people who think she is extremely credible to people who say she has absolutely no credibility. it's hard to see. she has stuck to her story that

>> well, i think the prosecution got the best jury they could under the circumstances. jury selection is not just a game of guesswork, it's a game of chance. and the folks come through. you do the best you can. but here is what is different about a murder trial. this is not a jury that is just going to shut off because there is a key witness that is maybe different than most of the folks that they know. i think this jury was working very hard and very attentively to get to the bottom of what she was saying. they know how important this. is. and as you noted, the essential elements of her testimony stayed together and rang true. i think where this jury is right now after the first week, they're probably uncertain about a lot of things. they may not be sure what to make of rachel jeantel. but they believe trayvon martin was followed, was pursued by george zimmerman. and whatever else after that happened came about because george zimmerman ignore addis patcher and went looking for this guy. >> because of the focus on jeantel, i want to play just a little bit of sound from i

the jury of six women will decide the case. the trial began today in dramatic fashion, an f bomb, knock knock joke, and then apology for the knock knock joke. you'll hear it all momentarily. first, david mattlingly brings us up to the minute. >> police fire and medical. >> i heard a shot behind my house. >> shock, confusion, fear, you hear it in the voice of every 911 caller in the final moments of trayvon martin's young life. >> a person is dead laying on the ground. oh, my god. >> february 26, 2012. 17-year-old trayvon martin buys some skittles and ice tea, walks through a community of town homes where he is staying with his father. that's where he catches the attention of george zimmerman. >> these [bleep], they always get away. >> he was watching trayvon martin walking alone. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good or he's on drugs or something. >> less than a minute later, he gets out of his car. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay, we don't need you to do that. >> okay. >> then a few minutes later, there's anoth

the jury. ctly what the prosecution was attempting to seek when it presented all this evidence that went before the jury today. >> now, lisa, something interesting. you kept saying last night it's got to be about the evidence. it has to be about what we see with the forensic evidence and the other evidence. >> yes. >> not just emotion. >> yes. >> we heard today, though, that they had done all they could at the scene to preserve any of the evidence and all that happened. if that is so, then how will the defense explain there was no blood even under the nails of trayvon martin, or any bruises when the technician said they tried to protect the integrity of the scene? >> well, that's true. and she did say that. but the defense did make some good points on the cross-examination. it took several hours for some of the evidence to be photographed and bagged. we know from the defense opening statement that trayvon martin's hands were not bagged. and that's important because that's of course where the blo

prosecutor told the jury quote you heard from dr. at there was a probability that the man would commit future acts of violence. >> it's so clear the testimony shouldn't have been put before the jury. >> reporter: linda was an attorney working the case but not just any attorney, she was one of the prosecutors and now pushing to get dwayne buck a new sentencing hearing. >> the idea that he would be walked to the execution chamber without this simple hearing boggles the mind. it just doesn't make good sense. >> reporter: walter was a lightning rod key person when the death sentence of six were overturned because of his on the verse l testimony that race is one 20 fact tomorrows that can determine if someone is likely to be a future danger to society. all of them were given new sentencing hearings and all sent to death row. dwayne buck was denied but appealing that decision. from game dwayne buck remembers what it was like to hear the testimony. >> she said basically because he was black he needs to die and i felt that was strange because

the jury has just come back into the courtroom.ge is requesting another copy of this much disputed transcript. george howell is watching this gavel to gavel and very unser moan nously cut you off before because the live action had begun but i want you to finish your thought, george howell. >> no. well, it deals with what we're looking at right now. could or could've. two words that could have distinctly different meanings. certainly we're just now hearing this term get off get off. she says that's what trayvon martin said, what she heard him say and now the question, the defense is trying to figure out, is it she could have heard trayvon say that or could've heard trayvon say that. you see the defense trying to get this tape admitted as evidence. that's why they asked the jury to leave, didn't want the jury to hear this audio as they play it through. if this audio gets admitted and if they can decide what she said there, and you know, she can state exactly what she said, you know, it could be very crucial in this case. >> can i ask

all right, good, you're on the jury. nothing? is funny. >> that is where the week started with memorable opening statements, memorable for different reasons, lisa, what can we expect to hear and see next week? who wille testifying for the state. >> there is still a lot. the pd, the investigator, and if i were the prosecution, i would end with the family of trayvon martin, saying that the screams they hear just before the gunshot, those are trayvon martin's screams. >> this idea that even if the jury concludes that george zimmerman was in fact, profiling trayvon martin that night, even he have they conclude that he could still be found not guilty, how is that? >> the prosecution has to show that he killed trayvon martin intentionally with a depraved heart. that is a very high legal standard. to say you profiled someone, you're suspicious of someone in the neighborhood, even for racial reasons, that is offensive, obnoxious, but not anywhere near the depraved heart. >> lisa bloom, thanks to you, as well. we'll see you back here with

what impact do you think he had on the jury? >> i'm astonished that they would have put him in there. maybe the prosecution figured don't let the defense call him, so put him out there first to deflect from having the defense have some powerful witness. i don't understand how this witness was anything but somebody who was positive for the defense. >> sunny, do you agree with that? he seems to be the star really for the defense, but he was put on by the prosecution. >> yeah, no, i do agree with that. as a prosecutor, you can't hide from the facts of your case and you certainly can't let the jury believe that you're hiding the facts of your case. so you put that type of witness on and you try to frame the narrative. but we all knew going into this, if you looked at the diskovry, this is what the testimony was going to be coming from john good. i suspect that they sort of book ended his testimony. they buried him in the middle and they have many more witnesses to come forward and i suppose put this all into context and put all the p

and i think the jury, they understood that. ood what she had gone through. >> yeah, and they could see her going through it in some sense again when the call was being played. i want to go back to a piece of rachel's testimony where she explained on cross examination why she thought she might not have to be involved in this case at all, and it was based on what she has learned about the investigations from tv shows. let's listen to that. >> well you thought, then, that somebody at some point would figure that out with the cell phones and then contact you? >> yes. that is not what officers do -- >> i didn't hear you? >> do you watch first 48? they watch the first number that they talked to. >> i'm sorry, the first 48 -- >> a show, "first 48." when the victim died, they called the number that the victim called before. and they didn't call my number. so they had already got the person, so case closed, i thought. >> faith, because they didn't call her number, and the one she knew would be on trayvon martin's phone, she thought hey,

the 9-1-1 tape you're referring to will be played for the jury. it's the question whether the experts come in. as for the language the attorneys can use, basically pretty big victory for the state this morning as the judge debra nelson said they could not use the term "racially profiled." but the prosecution said that had no intent to use the phrase. the defense wanted the judge to prohibit prosecutors from using sixther to concerns, the most contentious dealt with the racial component. >> people can be profiled by age, dressed, car they drive, location and timing they're in a certain place. so, that is not a racially charged term unless it's made so, and we don't intend to make it a racially charged term. >> so, ruling for the state, judge nelson is allowing these terms monday: profile, vinal plant tee, wannabe cop, and he confronted trayvon martin, prohibiting the prosecutionom using the words and wouldn't let them argue their case, which is that george zimmerman profiled trayvon martin when he spotted him walking in a hoodie in a rain that night

it's the six people in that jury box. the six people in that jury box are not going to relate to this young lady. >> and i disagree with that, because i was in the courtroom. >> sunny, i'll just explain it to you. they are not going to relate to her. they're not going to relate to this woman saying that "cracker" is not derogatory. they're not going to relate to the mumbling, the stumbling and the other things that are culturally different. >> that's wrong. >> as i said yesterday, save the tape, sunny, because you're going to see when this verdict comes out that this has been a train wreck. >> i'm already 4 for 4 on this. i was in the courtroom. >> you're saying she's relatable? >> absolutely. i took a look at the jury. i sat in there. they were engaged, taking notes, they were leaning in. they didn't seem to have any trouble understanding her. and i've got to tell you, today was an even better day for her on the witness stand than yesterday. yesterday, yes, she was combative and seemed fij itty. she never strayed from the

trayvon martin didn't know that, and the jury will remember that, too. so he started a fight he knew he could win. >> marcia, if you're the filing deputy as a prosecutor, and a police officers bring you a file, and they say -- they show you those pictures of george zimmerman, are you going to file that case as a felony against whoever did that to him, as an adw, with force likely to produce great bodily injury? because i'm going to bet, marcia, that you would file that 99 times out of 100 as an adw with gbi. >> marcia? >> i would file it with assault but i would not file the actual allegation of suffering great bodily injury. i don't think i could prove an infliction. >>> next, trayvon martin's stepmother, on the child she says she raised and lost and whether his killing was racially motivated. [ male announcer ] away... [ children laughing ] ♪ ...is the smell of salt in the air. ♪ it's the sound a seashell makes. [ seagulls calling ] away...is a place that's beyond your imagination, yet well within your means. find your away. for a dealer and the rv that

none much us knows what the jury thinks of her. e's told a consistent story from the beginning to end that trayvon martin success followed. but on cross-examination she's been caught in fairly large number of lies that she's had to concede to. not only that a story that's evolved and changed as she told it over and over again. >> one thing was about her age. you can't blame this young woman for the media attention borne out of this being over teenage ever 18 she would be targeted because she's pivotal witness. she fibbed about a couple of years so her identity would be protected. >> in normal human interaction this is true but this is a murder trial where the prosecution has to prove its case. and the way that the defense goes after witnesses in any case is to attack their credibility. and when you have one lie, you can explain it. when you have two lies perhaps you can explain it. when you're up to four or five or six it's a problem for the witness's credibility. >> paul, i know you're jumping to get in here. >> i am. it's not that

the family is patient. they want to get a fair and impartial jury. e doing it where they're trying to find out what pretrial publicity the jurors know about the case, have they formed any opinions or biases. and then once they determine that, then they're going to impanel 21 people at a time and ask them different issues about why they should or shouldn't serve on the jury as they do a trial. and at that point they keep going through it every so many 21 days until they get six members that can hear the case and then four alternates. and we're probably spend the next month having that jury vet all of the evidence. >> so it's six members of the jury in florida for a case of this nature that's a noncapital punishment case. martin family attorney benjamin crump, i can only say when we first started talking about this, you wanted a day in court. the family want addai in court. that's all they said -- that's all we protested for. those days have now come about, and we'll be watching. >> thanks for your time this evening. >> thank you, reverend sharpton and

all right, good, you're on the jury. nothing? that is funny. >> zimmerman faces up to life in prison on charges of second- degree murder. his trial is taking place before an all-female jury. five out of six are quite. we are joined by daniel cadet, editor of huffington post black voices. talk about what has happened in this trial so far. >> i think the most significant moment starting with the opening statement, i think the prosecution really started very strong in terms of repeating george zimmerman's words. i think their tactic is really to portray george zimmerman as a vigilante. -- i think for the attorney to open with expletives drove that point home very early on in the trial. i think is the trial has gone along, the state witnesses have been integral reedit i think rachel jeantel's testimony is seen by many as the prosecution's key witness. and the residence as well, their account of what they saw and what seemed to have taken place that evening. it is difficult because it was dark and raining, and a lot of people did not w

the question is, how does the jury see this? l this play a role in the case and the way the jury perceives george zimmerman and the physical altercation he had with trayvon martin? that's next. sunblock to your kids' wet skin. neutrogena® wet skin kids. ordinary sunblock drips and whitens. neutrogena® wet skin cuts through water. forms a broad spectrum barrier for full strength sun protection. wet skin. neutrogena®. radio: it's mattress discounters' radio: it's mattress discounters' 4th of july sale... bulldog: that cloud reminds me... radio: the tempur-pedic cloud collection-- bulldog: that's it! radio: now with 48 months interest-free financing-- basset hound: free financing? radio: mattress discounters' 4th of july sale ends soon. ♪ mattress discounters >>> there's no way not to notice that george zimmerman looks a lot different now than the night he shot trayvon martin. his lawyer says he's gained more than 100 pounds. in a trial with something like this, how much weight a defendant gains can be analyzed from all sorts of dif

and typically we have more people sitting in the jury box. so you obviously want to get that person out right away. on the other hand, there may be something to be said here to find out what all these views are so that the next juror and the jurors after that you may be in a better position to focus questions around what they may or may not have heard. and so in many ways, this is just a teaching tool. this is an informational gathering process. there is some reason to allow that to happen. on the other hand, i guess most lawyers and myself included would prefer not to happen. but given that is out there, other jurors may have heard it. so it's probably best to explore it as far as can with this particular juror and then be ready for the next juror. >> lisa, your take on this. >> you know, it's not fatal. it's all going to be cleaned up during the trial, and especially in closing argument. both sides are going to remind the jury about the evidence that they heard in the case, that they have to decide the case based on the evidence. and most ju

the jury has been selected for george zimmerman. zimmerman facing second degree murder charges for the killing of an unarmed teenager last year. another developing story, a deal in the works in congress to build a big, long fence along the border with mexico. some 700 miles. plus, a surge of border agents. in exchange for that, a possible path to citizenship for millions of people now in this country illegally. the idea is to build support among senate republicans for this push to fix the immigration system. not everyone is buying in on this. not everyone is buying it. we have reaction just a short time ago. >> i think it's important that we look at the details of the amendment. let's actually read it before we vote on it. and i think once the american people do, they'll understand the same thing they came to understand about the underlying bill. it opportunity truly fix the problem. >> david vitter from louisiana there. an initial reaction from one of the senate's more conservative republicans. we're going to talk this over with ma

it's the six people in the jury box. the six people in that jury box are not going to relate to this young lady. >> i completely disagree with that. i was in the courtroom -- >> let him finish. >> sunny, i'll explain it to you. they are not going to relate to her. they are not going to relate to this woman saying cracker is not derogatory or relate to the mumbling and stumbling. >> that's wrong. >> and thing that is are culturally different. >> that's wrong. >> as i said yesterday, save the tape, sunny. >> let's save the tape. >> this is a train wreck. >> i was in the courtroom. >> sunny, you are saying because she's authentic, she's relatable? >> absolutely. i took a look at the jury. i sat in there. they were engaged, they were taking notes. they didn't have trouble understanding her. i think today was a better day for her on the witness stand than yesterday. yesterday, yes, she was combative and fidgety. she never strayed from the fact she said george zimmerman was following trayvon martin, pursuing him and approached

day five ends with a lot for the jury to think about over the weekend. joining me now is mel robins. mel, you were there again. another compelling day. my sense is watching it all that the it was moving towards the defense case today. >>> 100% as you just heard everybody else talk about. jon good was a fantastic witness for the defense, even if you take into account we had witnesses over the course of the week that thought george zimmerman was on top and one was discredited quite skillfully by getting her to admit she was making that assessment seeing trayvon martin when he was a young kid. we know this was a tussle, they were rolling around and while jon good's testimony was different, it was pulled back and restrained today than it was when he first gave the testimony. he was very clear. i was in the courtroom with him this morning as he was testifying. the jurors leaning forward taking in every word, yes, can't say 100% but my gut who do i tell you who was yelling? it was george zimmerman. it was george zimmerman on the bottom. that was unbelievable.

it matters how the jury sees her, how the jury sees this evidence. ve women on that jury who may or may not share the same kind of cultural background that rachel jeantel does. i think that that's going to whether or not the prosecution can really help them make that connection will be the rice and fall of this case. but there is so much more evidence to be brought to bear. and there's another piece of information that i've been thinking about all day today and talking about it on social networks. are we seeing the same george zimmerman in court now astray von martin encountered that fight? >> yep. >> he is 100 pounds heavier. is he clean shaven. he no longer is this buff tan guy with a goatee that to me is simply more improposing. i'm not sure if i saw this george zimmerman at night confronting me that i would feel nearly as intimidated as the george zimmerman we've seen in some of these photographs. i wonder if that weight gain has something to do with the stress and pressure of being under house arrest. i wonder about that weight gain has something

i don't know why the defense is fighting to keep this stuff out. with this juryographic, it's almost turned on its head. you have the defense looking for kind of prosecutorial types. and in this case, i think a lot -- this kind of guy who is constantly out there, calling and making reports and worried about the neighborhood, there's a lot of people that embrace that. and i don't know why, if they're going to denigrate him because he's one of these, you know, concerned citizens, i think that could backfire on them. >> for the prosecution, they're saying this shows a growing frustration on his part at what's happening in the neighborhood. >> i think they're inadmissible, because it suggests -- the prosecution is putting them in to show that he's an obsessed wannabe cop, but we don't know whether he actually saw these people. we don't know whether these were actual suspicious characters around. and the court does not want to get sidetracked into mini trials about whether there were in fact two suspicious characters months earlier. if i were the judge, they should ke

jury. did that surprise you? >> it did. it's the first all female jury at least in a high profile case that i've seen. sometimes thing just work out in a statistically interesting way. >> going on the opening statement, how long do you expect them both to be -- you said it's not supposed to be laying out the case but in many ways they want to frame it. does that mean we expect a long tedious opening statement where the jury is going to hear everything they're going to hear? >> they're not supposed to argue the case. they're supposed to just lay out the facts. i would expect maybe an hour each roughly. we really don't know. just speculating at this point. this is estimated to be a 2 to 4 week trial. i don't expect them to go all day in a trial of that length. >> and the decision not to allow expert testimony to talk about the 911 call. i heard one of our reporters this morning, i think it was kerry sanders, saying this actually is likely to shrink the length of the trial a great deal. >> i would think so. you don't have all of that e

see the jury in a criminal case. we have high-profile cases from michael jackson's trial all the way down. ultimately we will get a jury. this judge is bending over backwards to keep it in sanford. not let it go to another jurisdiction or another venue, i should say. and to keep her control it. basically there was 500 people. there's 100 that are the first pool of -- potential jurors. and they are going lou questionnaires now. that will be vetted and pared down where there's about 21 from what we understand and then that will be subject to general questioning from the -- both sides of the defense and prosecution. >> so let me ask you this. you know, you have been on many table where you prepare a lot of these questions. and you know what you want and you know when you want to strike and you get your perfect emptor. >> we have to be careful of stealth jurors. jurors who want to be there for all the wrong reasons and not for any of the right reasons. so think may appear on their face to be unbiased and to be neutral and

objection was raised but the jury heard it. tting into the fact that his back and jeans were wet and had pieces of grass on his back and supports the other witnesses. >> now, does the defense hope that it can get enough of zimmerman's forthcoming testimony in through witnesses like officer smith so that, in the end, zimmerman doesn't even need to take the witness stand, the jurors will have heard what he is going to say? >> that's the ideal situation for the defense. they're hoping, and it may play out this way because the prosecution doesn't have a lot to work with. they're hoping hoping the prosen puts in enough of his statement to itch people zimmerman to put befores the jury his claims of self-defense in florida, once you raise self-defense by some means in front over the jury, it becomes the burden of the prosecution to prove it wasn't self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. >> that's correct. >> what is the downside of putting george zimmerman on the witness stand? >> he can totally collapse. most defendants when they get

you don't have to show it to the jury. a common defense ploy it will to the work. >> if you're at the edge of the ocean in january and you say the water is really cold, that is exonly pell one. example two is you grab them and throw them in, the image images are so graphic, that is defense 101. >> the jury should see the actual picture of what happened on that horrific day. what the judge has got to look at is the relevance outweighed by the prejudicial value, that is going to be the test. >> the balancing test, right. jon: you know, i guess i wouldn't want to be the judge making that call but you know there were little kids who were savagely murdered here. >> the why will let that in. jon: and to be able to push that aside and say it would be prejudicial to my client. >> the counter argument, not with standing i'm on the defense side this is such an overwhelming case in any event. >> but doug -- >> you don't even need it. >> you do need it. you have jurors in there, it's going to be way after the fact now. they need to be

i'm not sure this tape will go before the jury, so it may not matter. u have somebody who has been beat up by trayvon, but we knew there was a struggle. it was clear because zimmerman had the injuries he had. what will be the telling point is were those injuries sufficient? are they indicative of a struggle so severe, so serious he was reasonably in fear of imminent death? and that is what the jury is going to have to parse through all of this stuff and figure out, because if he was not reasonably in fear of imminent death or great bodily injury, he did not have the right to use lethal force against martin. >> i want to put an instagram photo posted by the daughter of the defense attorney don west. now in a statement given to cnn done west said sometimes we're deeply disappointed by what our children do and move on. the photo is getting a lot of reaction online. what do you know about it sunny? >> yeah, i mean, it's -- i was getting that sent to me all day. it's been sent to me for the past couple of hours, and we know that statement came out, so we know

we're going back to the jury now. don west is back on the stand again. >> you didn't take any -- take any steps or even have any particular concern about what you heard because, in your mind, it was just a fight. >> i did, sir. >> in the conversation that you had with with mr. de la rionda on april 2nd, he asked you some questions about whether trayvon martin had told you that the man had gotten out of the car. remember those questions? >> no, sir. so mr. de la rionda said to you in a question -- i can read it exactly or paraphrase it, but the conversation was that mr. de la rionda asked you -- >> may i see it, sir? >> may i see it, sir? >> yes. but let me set the stage, if i might. mr. de la rionda said, "but did he ever say the guy got out of the car?" >> i don't remember, sir. >> you don't remember that mr. -- >> what you talking about? >> here's what i'm talking about. that mr. de la rionda asked you, did he ever say the guy got out of the car? and your response to him was, you want that, too? you remember that? >>

i don't know about you or what the jury is thinking, but explain the process right now the jury is going through in hearing from these witnesses. >> reporter: the one thing they don't have is they don't have the benefit of the legal experts that are on msnbc here explaining what's going on. that's important to note. what it means is that they're hearing, for instance, a witness like john goode being called by the state. yet, they're thinking the state is putting on its strongest case, why are they calling somebody who it might appear is actually providing testimony that supports the defense here? without that sort of prelude from the prosecutor because they're not permitted by the rules in the state of florida to stay, now we're going to call this person and he's going to say this and i want you to understand that that's not important or is important. they have to do it in the back and forth. so i suspect in some cases jurors sit there and are somewhat bewildered. remember, they don't have the benefit, even though they're sequestered and eating together, they don't have the benefit to tu

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does it matter the makeup of the jury? >> well, sure. it does matter the makeup of the jury but a general story that they'll tell that's all the been the same, trayvon, a 17-year-old went out to get a drink and a snack and ended up dead and expand on how all of that happened but the point of it and maybe exactly to the five mothers on the jury, when you let your child to go out for a snack, do you expect him to be dead because of a neighborhood volunteer watchman? that's important to convey trayvon was pursued by, you know, a crazy man who felt that he had the authority to take things in to his own hands and ended up being a killer. >> carrie, how succinct does that statement have to be? >> i think that's the prosecution's standpoint. the defense standpoint is that george zimmerman was following trayvon martin around and some point george zimmerman became the victim in this situation and needed to defend himself so the stories are somewhat different from the prosecution and defense standpoint. i think what's important to know, though, abo