Zimmerman case likely in jury's hands in a few hours

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ORLANDO -- The murder case was filled with recordings of harrowing screams for help, panicked 911 calls and mystery over what happened that fateful night. On Friday, the jury will try to make sense of it when it starts deliberating George Zimmerman's fate.

Zimmerman's defense presents its closing argument the same day, followed by a rebuttal by the prosecution.

The case then goes to the sequestered jury of six women, who will decide whether Zimmerman should be acquitted, or convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter.

The defendant is accused of fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer at the time, said he acted in self-defense.

Closing arguments are to begin Thursday in George Zimmerman's murder trial in Sanford, Fla. (Gary W. Green / Orlando Sentinel / July 10, 2013)

There are no witnesses to the entire altercation that occurred on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida.

State prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda has argued that Zimmerman's account that he fired his gun because he feared for his life does not hold up.

"He brought a gun to a struggle, to a fight that he started ... wanting to make sure the victim didn't get away," the prosecutor said. "And now he wants you to let him off because he killed the only eyewitness, the victim Trayvon Martin, who was being followed by this man."

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