Believable Witness or Not

Critical Testimony was given today (day three) in the George Zimmerman murder trial from three witnesses.  

First was Jayne Surdyka, who made an emotional 911 call the evening of the shooting and was speaking with authorities when Trayvon was shot.  Her testimony and emotional recording greatly supported the state’s case, and she stood up well to cross examination.  Another witness followed her who didn’t appear very impressive or beneficial to either the defense or prosecution.  Finally, there was the star of the day, Miss Rachel Jeantel , a 19-year old personal friend of Trayvon Martin.  

Miss Jeantel, a reluctant witness, testified she was on the phone with Trayvon moments before his confrontation with Zimmerman.

Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak with Trayvon Martin before the shooting
Photo from TJMS online

In her testimony Miss Jeantel stated she had been talking to Trayvon off and on all day.  As Trayvon left the store, he got caught in the rain and took a short cut over to the “mail area.” 

As their conversation continued, Trayvon told her someone was watching him.  She asked, “What does he look like?” Trayvon responded, “A creepy ass cracker.”

Miss Jeantel then joked, “He might be a rapist, and you’d better run.” Trayvon laughed and said don’t mess with me like that.  They both laughed and continued talking about something else.  Trayvon told her he was going to try to lose him.

Shortly thereafter Trayvon told her, “I see him again.” She told Trayvon to just run.  Trayvon said he wasn’t going to run, that he was almost there [at his father’s fiancée’s condo].  

Then Miss Jeantel stated she heard Trayvon say, “Why are you following me for?”  She asked, “Trayvon, Trayvon, what’s going on?”

She then heard a heavy breathing man say, “What are you doing around here?” Then she heard scuffling and the call disconnected.

During her examination by the prosecution, Miss Jeantel clearly identified the voice of Trayvon Martin on the 911 recording.  This was a critical piece of information and significantly helped to make the state’s case.

However, while under lengthy cross examination and scrutiny, Miss Jeantel did not appear quite so stellar. 

When Defense Attorney West questioned why she had not come forward to offer evidence she had concerning the shooting, she said, “No one had called me.  And they had the guy who did it.” 

Miss Jeantel demonstrated her knowledge of the criminal justice system was limited by referring to television shows like “The First 48.”  This defense’s line of questioning began to unravel the teenager.

When asked when she found out that Trayvon had been killed, she stated, she doesn’t watch the news so it was when she talked to some of her friends at school.  And when she realized what time he was shot, she knew she had been the last person to talk to him.

When questioned why she didn’t attended Trayvon’s memorial service, she said, “I didn’t want to see the body.  You have to understand. You have to understand how I was feeling.” 

West then revealed that Miss Jeantel had lied to Trayvon’s mother, telling her she didn’t attend the service because she went to the hospital. West then began his attempt to discredit Miss Jeantel by painting her as a liar.

Through his questioning, West also revealed Miss Jeantel had lied in her telephone deposition with the Martin family attorney.  She implied she answered quickly and perhaps inaccurately to questions posed to her by the attorney.

By the end of the day, after being on the stand for approximately 4 hours, Miss Jeantel appeared emotional, very tired and greatly frustrated. She said the voice on the 911 recording “could be Trayvon,” changing her testimony.  West moved to close proceedings for the day at that point. 

When the judge asked West how much additional cross examination he envisioned, West responded with words to the effect of at least a couple of hours.  Exasperated, Miss Jeantel blurted she was leaving this evening.

West quickly asked, “Are you saying, you’re not coming back?”  At that point the judge interceded and said she would address all scheduling issues.

At the end of the day, it was uncertain whether Rachel Jeantel’s testimony would be deemed creditable or not.  While I believe her account of the events of that evening, it is questionable how she will be viewed by the jurors.

I’m not hatin, I jus sayin…