Zimmerman and His College Classes

Yesterday, the prosecution in the George Zimmerman murder trial asked the judge to allow evidence and testimony as to college courses George Zimmerman had taken specifically criminal justice courses, as well as his efforts to join law enforcement. The defense objected as to their relevance, but the judge allowed them in. Thus, today one of Zimmerman's previous professors testified, and Zimmerman's application for a ride-along program was also admitted.

So how is it relevant that George Zimmerman wanted to go into a law enforcement career? Is that a negative thing? Does it prove that he was "a frustrated cop wanna-be"?

One point that I do think was valid was the prosecution's attempt to show that Zimmerman had received some training in college as to Florida's Stand your Ground law, which would have contradicted his statement in the Sean Hannity interview (played yesterday)  that he had no previous knowledge of the law until the incident with Trayvon Martin. Of course, that would still leave open the question of how much of it was covered, or whether Zimmerman ever wrote a paper on the topic, or was even present in class on the day(s) the topic was covered. Many college classes are so large that attendance isn't even taken. I myself majored in criminal justice in college, but that was way back in the late 60s. (I graduated in 1970.)

The judge also made a curious ruling when she sustained an objection the day after Detective Christopher Serino testified that he believed Zimmerman's story. They didn't object at the time, but nonetheless, the judge allowed them to enter an objection 24 hours later, struck it from the record, and instructed the jury to disregard Serino's statement. if Zimmerman is convicted, expect that to be an appellate issue.

Today, which is expected to be the last day of the state's case, a DNA expert is testifying  from the State Crime Lab. It appears he will say that Martin's DNA was not found on the gun or the holster. Interestingly, last night I was watching CNN's Anderson Cooper with his "panel of legal experts"-including Mark Geragos, the over-rated defense attorney, who probably has more clients on death row than any other trial lawyer. He was so loud and obnoxious, I wondered if he had downed a few highballs before going on air.

But I digress.

One of the panel stated that while no readable fingerprints from Martin could be found on the gun, neither could any of Zimmerman's prints be found. If that is accurate, the assumption is that the rain obliterated any readable prints. Not being a DNA expert, I don't know if or how that would impact the DNA expert's testimony. We will have to wait and see.