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But under cross-examination, Serino said that he found no significant inconsistencies in Zimmerman’s statements to police — testimony that could help the defense. He also said he didn’t find it unusual or cause for concern when Zimmerman remarked that screaming heard on a 911 recording “doesn’t even sound like me.”
Osterman, Zimmerman’s best friend and the person who encouraged him to buy a firearm, testified as a state’s witness, focusing mainly on what Zimmerman told him on the ride back from the Sanford police station early on Feb. 27. That story largely followed the same one Zimmerman had told police.
But it was an excerpt from a book Osterman wrote last year, Defending Our Friend: The Most Hated Man in America, that contained something different than any of Zimmerman’s other statements.
“[Trayvon] took his hand that was covering my nose and went for the gun, saying, ‘You’re gonna die now, motherf-----,’ ” the book quotes Zimmerman as saying. “Somehow, I broke his grip on the gun where the guy grabbed it between the rear sight and the hammer. I got the gun in my hand, raised it toward the guy’s chest and pulled the trigger.”
No DNA from Trayvon was found on the gun, and a latent-fingerprint expert testified on Tuesday that she could not recover any identifiable fingerprints from the weapon.
Prosecutors played for jurors a televised interview Zimmerman did with Sean Hannity last year.
In it, Zimmerman responds to one of the interviewer’s questions about Florida’s Stand Your Ground law by saying he’d never heard of it until after the shooting. That may come into question on Wednesday as prosecutors seek to present evidence about Zimmerman’s criminal-justice studies and interest in law enforcement.
Zimmerman also mentioned several times during the Hannity interview that Trayvon broke his nose. Whether his nose was actually broken was a point of contention during testimony last week from Zimmerman’s primary-care provider and others who saw his injuries.
The trial will continue Wednesday in a fifth-floor courtroom in Seminole County. A six-person, all-female jury will decide Zimmerman’s fate. He faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged.
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