Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Trayvon Martin Witnesses - Dramatic Testimony Today

Former Residents Tell What They Saw - Girlfriend Testifies About Cell Call To Trayvon

SANFORD, FL. -- During Wednesday morning's murder trial of George Zimmerman,  former resident of the Sanford townhouse complex, Jane Surdyka took the witness stand and in the afternoon, the girlfriend of Trayvon Martin, now 19-year old Rachel Jeantel.

Surdyka was a resident living near the spot where 17-year old Trayvon Martin was shot on February 26, 2012.

Jane Surdyka, a former teacher was questioned by attorneys about her call to 911 and what she saw and heard that night.

Surdyka lived near the scene of the Martin shooting and called 911 having a lengthy conversation with the operator. The recording, as played to the six-member jury depicted an almost hysterical Surdyka telling a 911 operator she heard loud voices, one "dominant" and one "softer."

She says she looked outside her bedroom window and said she saw two men on the ground and knew it was "something serious," and said "something horrible was happening."

She told the 911 operator, "Oh my God, I don't know what he did to this person." She said she heard "Pop! Pop! Pop!" sounds. She tells the operator she can't stop shaking.

At one point in the recording she told the operator she didn't want to give her name. After the call, she did come out of her home and speak to a police investigator that night.

She said there were several minutes between what she heard and then what she saw outside. She assumed the two were connected but also said she couldn't pinpoint where the voices she heard were coming from. "Everything happened to quickly and I was so nervous," she told attorneys for Zimmerman's defense during cross-examination.

During her testimony she said she thought the "soft" voice she heard asking for help was the "boy on the ground" (Martin), saying she thought the other voice she heard must have been a man's voice.

Surdyka had in the last year appeared in disguise on a national television show telling her story, including the idea that she thought Martin was the one crying out for help that night.

Jeannee Manolo, a resident of the townhouse community, testified that she heard cries for help and saw two people hitting each other. After watching news reports she thought Zimmerman was on top of Martin based on photos she saw of Trayvon when he was 11 years old. She thought Zimmerman must have been the bigger of the two, but in court admitted she didn't know who was actually bigger.

Martin's Girlfriend Testifies About Cell Phone Call Minutes Before He Died

19-year old Rachel Jeantel told the court she was on the phone with Martin, who said he was being followed by a "creepy ass cracker." The phone was disconnected and she called him back and her reported he was near his father's girlfriend's home. A few seconds later he said, "Oh, sh--" and then "The ni--- behind me."

The last thing she heard him say was, "Why you following me for?" And said she heard a "hard-breathing man" say, "What are you doing around here?" And finally she said Trayvon said "Get off, get off."

Jeantel said she didn't learn about Martin's death until two days later, although had heard rumor at school that he was dead. She said Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father called her and that was the first time she knew.

She couldn't explain a 30 minute gap from the time Trayvon left the nearby 7-11 convenience store and the time when Zimmerman made the first call to police notifying them of a suspicious person.

She admitted lying to Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton about her age, saying she was 16 when she really was 18. She also lied, saying she was in the hospital as a reason to not go to the funeral.

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