CNN Transcripts about George Zimmerman in Court
4-12 Frank Taaffe on Jane Velez-Mitchell
TAAFFE: Jane, he looks bewildered. He looks bewildered.
He`s saying, you know, all I was doing was trying to ensure the safety of a community. And here was a boy, a young male, 17 years old, who is a football player, who ran track in football and probably could outrun the best of the best.
And what this charging affidavit is saying that this man, George Zimmerman, 28 years old, inhibited a 17-year-old young male from going 30 yards in three seconds? I would be -- I`d be just like him, looking like a deer in the headlights, saying what is wrong with this system? What is wrong here?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Frank, let me say this. The gun is the great equalizer.
TAAFFE: He had -- he had a concealed...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It doesn`t matter how tiny you are or big you are, if you`re holding a gun.
TAAFFE: Constitutionally, he had a right to carry that weapon. There are certain venues that he cannot...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m not talking about a right. You`re saying why didn`t he -- if somebody has a gun, it doesn`t matter how big the other person is. A gun trumps everything. It is the great equalizer, as they say. I didn`t make up that phrase.
TAAFFE: Yes, Jane. Let me share this with you. There was one shell casing found at the scene of the crime. I don`t know where these witnesses are coming from, but they seem to be coming out of every crack and crevice in Twin Lakes, and every one of these so-called lawyers are jumping on the bandwagon to get their name out there.
This is preposterous. I`m livid over this last witness, who said he saw George Zimmerman on top of Trayvon. This is getting to be a little out of hand.
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4-12 Nancy Grace with Trayvon's parents
SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN`S MOTHER: I had faith in God that Miss Corey`s office would take a look at the evidence. And I just have faith that they were going to take a look -- a thorough look at it and then decide to arrest him. So I always believed that he would be arrested. It just took longer than I actually thought.
It`s very difficult for me on a day-to-day basis because, of course, I`ve had family members to pass to pass away, but when a child passes way it just really hits home. And just for the circumstances that it was, I mean, Trayvon did not have an illness, and I was expecting him to die, you know. And it just -- he had a bright future. And it just bothers me. Just in my mind it just bothers me to think about all the things that he could have done with his life.
GRACE: Well, I wonder, at that moment what he was thinking. What went through his mind. And you know what I pray? Not only for peace for you two in your hearts and for justice in this case, whatever that may be, but that he did not suffer, that he did not understand what was happening, and that it was a quick, quick passage on to heaven. That is what I pray for.
That evening, it`s my understanding, he was on his way back to his dad`s and he was on the phone with a girl. I think she`s 13, 14 years old. And he was concerned someone was following along behind him. And I think all of us that have been out in the world have had that thought that someone was behind us, you know, whether you`re walking to your house or the parking deck. And I find it very difficult to believe, Miss Fulton, that him saying on the phone, like, some guy is behind me, that he would double-back if he were afraid at all, that he would go back to that guy.
Does that sound like Trayvon to you? Would he have done that?
FULTON: No. And it really doesn`t make sense because on the 911 tapes Trayvon is running away from him. Trayvon was just trying to get back to the house. He wasn`t looking to do any harm to anyone. He wasn`t looking to commit any crime. He simply went to the store. So it`s just very difficult for me to just listen to all the negative things that they have said about Trayvon. And I know my son. He`s just an average teenager.
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GRACE: Mr. Martin, I want to hear from you. I`ve been focusing on Miss Fulton so much because she`s a mom. But I`m sure a father has such dreams and hopes for their son.
MARTIN: Yes. Me and Trayvon was very close. He spent a lot of time out of town with me, traveling with me. He was actually -- I was looking forward to getting him his first vehicle. He was looking forward to the prom. Trayvon just -- he was -- every time I traveled out of town to play sports he would travel with me ever since nine months old.
The thing I`m going to most about him is just his presence. Trayvon was my hero. Trayvon saved my life when he was 9 years old. He pulled me out of a house fire. And I felt as though I owe him a debt of gratitude. I owed him my life. And not to be able to save him in his time of need is really troublesome. But I did make a vow to him since his passing that I would continue to fight for him with every ounce of energy that I have in me.
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