George Zimmerman trial: Judge delays ruling on animation of fatal struggle
(CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. - A Central Florida judge has delayed a ruling on whether she will allow jurors to see an animation of the fatal altercation between accused murderer George Zimmerman and slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
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Judge Debra Nelson held an evidence hearing Tuesday on the piece of animation commissioned by defense attorneys. Jurors were out of the courtroom during the hearing.
"I'm not having the jury sit back here for another 45 minutes doing nothing," Nelson said.
Prosecutors object to the animation, saying it isn't an accurate depiction.
The hearing began Tuesday morning. When attorneys told Nelson around 10:30 that they expected it to last another 45 minutes, Nelson said the court would take up the issue again in the afternoon. "I'm not having the jury sit back there for another 45 minutes doing nothing," Nelson said.
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Defense attorneys called the man who created the animation to testify. Daniel Schumaker explained he sometimes places people in motion-capture suits to recreate crime scenes in his animations.
It's the same type of technology used in films such as "Avatar" and the "Iron Man" movies.
To recreate the fight, Schumaker went to the crime scene and had employees in motion-capture suits re-enact what happened based on coroner photographs, police reports, the coroner's report, witness depositions and photos taken by responding police officers, he said.
The fight took place on a dark, rainy night in February 2012 and there were no eyewitnesses who saw the entire fight. Several witnesses saw and heard parts of the struggle that left Martin dead with a bullet in his heart. For a timeline, Schumaker relied on a 911 call was made by a neighbor reporting the struggle, he said.
