George Zimmerman’s Defense Team Grills Trayvon Martin’s Mother

by Patrick H. Moore

Yesterday, at George’s Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial, it was horrifying to watch defense attorney Mark O’Mara’s cold-blooded and persistent attempt to bully and manipulate Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, into stating that if the screams for help on the neighbor’s tape were not her son’s, then he was responsible for his own death. O’Mara’s crass tactics flew in the face of famous defense attorney Robert Shapiro’s admonition that the grieving relatives of deceased victims should always be treated gently and with respect on cross-examination. While it’s true that O’Mara’s delivery could be described as understated (he certainly did not raise his voice), he cool (cold) yet insistent line of questioning made it starkly clear that in a trial of this magnitude, there is no ground to sacred to stomp upon including the feelings of a grieving mother for her deceased son.

Although watching O’Mara was horrifying, it was inspiring to see the manner in which Sybrina Fulton handled and defused his callous insinuations. She refused to give an inch and quietly but firmly rejected his every attempt to assassinate the character of her dead son. Although it could be argued (and probably will be argued) that O’Mara was merely doing his job, which is, after all, to mount a vigorous defense on behalf of his client, it seems to me that his lengthy grilling of Ms. Fulton was both gratuitous and inappropriate. O’Mara, of course, knew that later in the day George Zimmerman’s mother would testify that the screams for help belonged to her son, George Zimmerman, and that Ms. Fulton’s testimony was highly unlikely to persuade the jurors to vote for conviction. Even if the screams were Martin’s, which of course they may have been, that does not prove that Zimmerman attacked him rather than the other way around.

But O’Mara was not about to take any chances. Nor was Sybrina Fulton about to cave in to his transparent attempt to put words in her mouth.

Kristen Gwynne of AlterNet has provided the transcript of a key part of the dramatic exchange along with her commentary:

“If it was your son, in fact, screaming as you testified, that would suggest that it was Mr. Zimmerman’s fault that led to his death,” O’Mara said to Fulton, “And if it was not your son screaming, if it was, in fact, George Zimmerman then you would have to accept the probability that it was Trayvon Martin that caused his own death, correct?”

“I don’t understand your question,” Fulton replied, “I heard my son screaming.”

Then, O’Mara took it a bit further, saying “You certainly had to hope that was your son screaming even before you heard it, correct?”

“I didn’t hope for anything,” Fulton said, “I just simply listened to the tape.”

O’Mara tried to discredit by saying, “I don’t meant to put you through this any more than necessary, but you certainly would hope your son, Trayvon Martin, did nothing that could have led to his own death, correct?”

“What I hope for is that this wouldn’t have ever happened and he would still be here,” Fulton replied to the callous remark, “That’s my hope.”

I suppose it was both predictable and inevitable that Zimmerman’s defense team would choose the heavy-handed tactics that they displayed yesterday in the Seminole County courtroom for the entire world to see. What was not so predictable was whether Sybrina Fulton would be able to stand up to it. But she did — and at the risk of being corny — I am certain that her son, assuming he is watching from some mythical place beyond this veil of tears, is very proud of his mother.