Before the case went to the jury, closing arguments were made in the George Zimmerman trial and both sides presented their cases in the courtroom. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
Fireworks erupted during closing arguments at the George Zimmerman trial.
Defense lawyer Mark O’Mara picked up a heavy concrete slab saying Trayvon Martin used it as a lethal weapon when he slammed Zimmerman’s head into it on the night of their fatal confrontation.
He said, “That was not an unarmed teenager with nothing but Skittles. The suggestion by the state that is not a weapon, that that can't hurt somebody, it can't cause great bodily injury is disgusting.”
In rebuttal, prosecutor John Guy expressed outrage that Martin was being blamed for what happened.
Guy said, “That child had every right to do what he was doing, walking home.”
O'Mara made a low-key, folksy appeal to the jury of six women to find Zimmerman not guilty.
He said, “Say he acted in self defense. Find him not guilty and let him go back on with his life.”
He even had Zimmerman stand up saying he's not the bad guy portrayed by prosecutors.
Contrast the defense's soft-spoken approach on Friday to the fireworks in prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda's closing arguments on Thursday when he skipped around the courtroom. Fellow prosecutor John Guy was more subdued Friday when he presented rebuttal arguments that wrapped up the case against Zimmerman.
Guy said, "To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe the truth."
So how did the lawyers do? TV’s legal analysts weighed in immediately.
On Fox News, Susan Constantine said, "Mark O'Mara was slow, steady, and methodical."
Les Trent spoke to HLN’s Ryan Smith.
Trent asked, "Defense this morning, how do you think they did with their closings?"
Smith replied, "I thought they did a good job and the key for me was, Bernie de la Rionda was in that courtroom yesterday, yelling, screaming with passion. Today, Mark O'Mara is the picture of clam and I think that was in effort to try to bond with this all-female jury."
And here's the reaction from HLN anchor Jane Velez Mitchell, "I think it was very significant that they had John Guy, who is the good looking guy, let's be real, do the final, final close for the prosecution because these are women. Women might respond to a very good looking guy who has been compared to Kevin Costner."
Now, it's up to the jury to reach a verdict with the entire nation watching.
