A jury is starting deliberations in the murder trial of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year.

Defendant Defense attorney Mark O'Mara (R) has George Zimmerman stand in the courtroom for the jury during closing arguments
Defendant Defense attorney Mark O'Mara (R) has George Zimmerman stand in the courtroom for the jury during closing arguments (Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images)
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Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury will also be allowed to consider manslaughter. Under Florida's laws involving gun crimes, a conviction on either could mean life in prison.

The jurors have been sequestered during the past three weeks. Because there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, jurors will likely rely heavily on testimony from police, neighbors, friends and family members. The testimony was often conflicting.

Jurors will have to determine whether Zimmerman took the law into his own hands or was in a fight for his life and shot Martin in self-defense.

 


(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

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