George Zimmerman left arrives in Seminole circuit court with his wife Shellie on the 11th day of his trial in Sanford Fla. Monday June 24 2013.
/ Joe Burbank(CBS) The jury in the trial of George Zimmerman accused of killing unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin heard from the first few witnesses in the case before recessing for the day Monday.
PICTURES George Zimmerman in court
READ Trayvon Martin Shooting A timeline of events
They included the son of the girlfriend of Martin's father with whom Martin was playing video games before he left to go to the 7 Eleven a 7 Eleven employee who encountered Martin just before the fatal altercation and the dispatcher to whom Zimmerman placed a crucial non emergency call minutes before he shot Martin.
Zimmerman claims he shot Martin in self defense after the teen attacked him.
Defense attorneys have said that Zimmerman briefly followed Martin after dispatcher Sean Noffke asked him about the direction in which Martin was running but that he stopped when Noffke said We don't need you to do that. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara questioned Noffke Monday about whether he intended for Zimmerman to follow Martin after Noffke asked about which direction Martin ran.
Based upon your six years of doing this if you ask someone which way someone else is running they may actually go find out O'Mara asked.
My intent was to get a location for the officer Noffke said. I can understand if someone interpreted it in a different way. I can't control how they interpret the words.
Before the court recessed Zimmerman's defense team objected to the court hearing past calls the neighborhood watch volunteer placed to dispatchers about suspicious people in his neighborhood.
The calls were placed before Zimmerman's Feb. 26 2012 non emergency call which was played several times in court Monday in which he reported Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person and used the terms expletive punks and these expletives they always get away.
In the call Zimmerman also says we've had some break ins in my neighborhood.
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Monday afternoon prosecutors played another call placed by Zimmerman to dispatchers before the Feb. 26 call in which he described a person in his neighborhood who fit the description of someone who had been burglarizing homes in the area.
Defense attorneys objected to the jury hearing the call saying it wasn't relevant. But prosecutors argued that the previous calls spoke to Zimmerman's state of mind the evening of the deadly altercation and provided context for Zimmerman's statement about previous break ins.
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In opening statements Monday morning defense attorneys portrayed Zimmerman as a citizen looking out for his neighborhood when he was viciously attacked by Trayvon Martin a stark contrast to prosecutors' picture of a vigilante who confronted and murdered the teen.
The court recessed for the day shortly before 5 p.m. and was set to take up the challenge to Zimmerman's previous calls to dispatchers before jury is scheduled to return at 9 a.m.
The court also heard Monday from Ramona Rumph of the communications division of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. Rumph was expected to continue her testimony Tuesday.
Complete coverage of the George Zimmerman Trayvon Martin case on Crimesider
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