Ex-Sanford police chief: Zimmerman probe 'taken away from us'

[Lee-Lee]

41. Not really

It was weak. Very poorly constructed and presented.

He never laid out a clear chain of events that will remain 100% believable after the defense gets their say. He should have been laying out a clear narrative of facts that tell the story so they can reach a verdict, one that will survive all the defense will throw at it tomorrow. But instead he spent much, too much, of the time appealing to emotion.

He spent most of the time just poking holes in Zimmermans story. That is what a defense attorney is supposed to do. He never laid out a clear, concise chain of events that was believable beyond a reasonable doubt. He didn't. He asked a whole lot of questions. You don't eliminate reasonable doubt with questions, you create it.

Whoever did that powerpoint needs to be fired. It didn't just look amateurish, it contained things that made me go WTF? Like claims Zimmerman had an "overloaded gun"- what does that even mean? I am a certified firearms instructor and have never, ever heard such a term used. How does a professional prosecutor and his team let something like that get into its presentation?

At one point I heard him say "I hope this makes sense" about his own exhibit. Hey, McFly, your job is to eliminate doubt, not create it by using exhibits you are unsure the jury understands.

And lastly, he kept yelling. I know it was to appeal to emotion, but I expect it turned off the jurors. People yell when they are not confident of their argument.

Remember, the defense has a lot lower bar to reach than the prosecution. Imagine as an 90/10 thing. The Prosecution needs to create 90% or better certainty in the jurors minds that what they are saying happened like they are claiming to convict. The defense only needs to create more than 10% doubt or so that the prosecution is right to win.

Had this been a defense closing, poking holes in a story and asking questions to make jurors wonder and create doubt, I would say they did a good job. As a prosecution closing, it was lacking.

I am very disappointed.