(ABC News)--On what would have been Trayvon Martin's 18th birthday, lawyers for his accused killer George Zimmerman were denied a request to delay this summer's murder trial.
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara
claimed during an often heated one-hour hearing that he needed more
time to prepare, and that the state was not being cooperative with key
evidence.
"Its February and the trial's set for June," countered prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.
He argued that O'Mara did not deserve more time to prepare and that many
of the delays were his own fault. The state has argued that the
Zimmerman legal team is moving slowly because of a dwindling defense fund. Zimmerman's attorneys have acknowledged that the fund is just about empty.
"The spirit of Trayvon Martin was definitely in the courtroom today on
what would have been his 18th birthday. The judge ruled that the trial
would not be delayed," Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said
today.
Martin, 17, was shot and killed while walking home unarmed on Feb. 26,
2012, from a deli near his father's fiancee's house. Zimmerman, a
neighborhood watch captain, has claimed the unarmed teen was acting
suspicious and that he shot the teenager during a fight when the boy
tried to get Zimmerman's gun.
The case had inflamed emotions in Sanford, Fla., where it occurred and the trial is also expected to be emotional.
A heavier Zimmerman looked on as Circuit Judge Debra Nelson noted that
both sides had agreed earlier that they would be ready by June 10 when
the trial is slated to start and that O'Mara's issues can be fixed in
time.
Besides the motion to delay the trial, most of the remaining proceedings
centered around a teenage girl identified so far only as witness 8.
Phone records show she was on the phone with Martin moments before the
unarmed teen crossed paths with Zimmerman. Her testimony may prove
crucial as a jury tries to determine who was the aggressor in the deadly
altercation.
O'Mara argued that the state is withholding information related to the
teen's phone and how data on it was downloaded. The judge ordered the
state to pass on all information concerning how the phone was tested and
handled.
Zimmerman's defense was also seeking to depose Crump later today. Crump
was the first person to find and interview the teen, who says she told
Martin to run after he complained about Zimmerman watching him as he
walked to his father's girlfriends home on the night of his death.
However, Crump's attorney argued that a deposition was improper because
Crump was not a witness in the case, and that he had already filed a
15-page affidavit detailing how he found her and that should be enough.
The judge asked for time to review the affidavit before determining if
he would have to give a deposition.
The summer trial start will leave both sides scurrying to finish
depositions, scrub social media for more information into who the key
players may have been, as well as plan for an all-important stand your ground hearing.
Zimmerman's team will argue that he shot and killed Martin in self
defense after the teen lashed out at him and pummeled his head on the
ground. If the judge finds that there is enough evidence indicating that
Zimmerman felt threatened than the entire case will be thrown out under
Florida's stand your ground law.
Outside of the Seminole County courthouse, about 20 supporters of
Trayvon Martin gathered around a framed photo of the Miami teen with
black balloons to sing, pray, and commemorate the 18th birthday. His
parents did not attend today's hearing. O'Mara made note of the solemn
occasion saying, "No matter what, a tragedy occurred."
Remembrances are planned today throughout the town of Sanford, Miami
where the teen grew up and throughout the country. In a possible sign of
healing of the events planned, an anti-gun rally in a historically
black Sanford neighborhood, is being sponsored by both the Sanford
Police Department and the NAACP. The joining of both sides behind one
common bond would have seemed almost unthinkable in the early spring of
2012 as thousands descended upon the city claiming that the Sanford PD
was embroiled in a cover-up and alleging misconduct because Zimmerman
had yet to be arrested.
Copyright 2013 by ABC News
