Had he not been killed, Trayvon Martin would have turned 18 years old today. And had George Zimmerman not shot Martin to death, we wouldn't have to report that a Florida judge, on Martin's 18th birthday, denied the defense's motion to delay the second-degree murder trial past June 10.
RELATED: Trayvon Eyewitness: Zimmerman Was Uninjured
In court today, Judge Debra Nelson heard and denied a motion from Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara the opening of proceedings until later in the year. "O'Mara argued that the prosecution has been slow to turn over evidence and that he does not have enough time to prepare his case," reports USA Today's Yamiche Alcindor. If this painful saga feels like it's been going on forever, it's because it sort of has — Zimmerman shot Martin on February 26, 2012 (that's right, almost one year ago), and since then the case and big question of whether this boy was murdered has been mired in tangential subplots and infractions ranging from witnesses changing their stories to Zimmerman trying to keep all his newfound money secret. And, as Alcindor reports, there was more nit-picking in court today:
Nelson approved a motion by Zimmerman's lawyer to subpoena credit card sales records from the 7-Eleven Trayvon visited the night he was killed. She also ordered de la Rionda reveal tests performed on the phone that investigators sent to California to get unlocked.
Lawyers also had lengthy arguments about Witness 8, a young lady who claims she was on the phone with Trayvon as the confrontation between him and Zimmerman started.
Nelson ruled that Witness 8 can be asked about her Twitter handle before she is deposed by the defense but that any other questions must be posed during her deposition.
Of course, today being Martin's birthday punctuates the story and makes the wait for justice — whatever that may be — seem even longer, and this business about Twitter handles seem even more inconsequential. For now, the trial is set to begin in earnest on June 10.
