Knock Knock. Who's There? The George Zimmerman Trial

Opening arguments began in the George Zimmerman murder trial. Zimmerman, a former volunteer crime watchman in Sanford, Fla., is accused of profiling, pursuing and fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, in February 2012.

In opening statements the prosecutor told jurors that George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, Zimmerman's attorney said the deadly shooting of the Miami-area teen was carried out in self-defense.

The prosecutor, John Guy painted Zimmerman as an angry, out-of-control vigilante who stalked Trayvon Martin before shooting the teen.

Don West, Zimmerman's attorney began with a knock-knock joke of all things.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman who?
Okay, good.  You're on the jury.

West later apologized for the joke but so far it appears he is stumbling over his points during the opening statement.  Instead of driving his points home he misspeaks and then corrects himself.  He may be confusing the jurors with his bases and confusing chronological timeline.

One thing that Mr. West did that I thought was effective was having the judge read the statute for 2nd degree TWICE.  This forces the jurors to look for the elements of this charge as the evidence is presented in this trial.

The second-degree homicide statute defines it as:  the unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by an act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual.  Second degree murder is punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life. 

Now there's distraction in the courtroom as a courtroom spectator accuses the father of Trayvon Martin of making a threat at him.  The alleged event was said to have happened about two weeks ago. 

The judge ruled that both of Trayvon's parents have the absolute right to attend the trial.  The judge did not find there to be a reason for concern after hearing the testimony about the alleged threat.