Witnesses in the upcoming George Zimmerman murder trial will not be permitted to testify anonymously, judge Debra Nelson ruled on Thursday, less than a week before the start of the highly-scrutinized murder trial, ABC News reported.
In the final hearing before next week's trial, which is slated to begin on June 10, lawyers were told the final rules of the proceedings, including whether witnesses would be allowed to testify anonymously.
In May, one audio expert said that the screams came from Trayvon Martin himself, while another said that the shouts were from Zimmerman himself.
Prosecutors hired audio experts to compare samples of Zimmerman and Martin's voices, which contained shouts coming from 911 phone calls by Zimmerman's neighbors.
Also, Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara indicated that some witnesses feared for their safe if his client were acquitted, which is why he requested that they be allowed to testify anonymously, ABC News reported. However, as mentioned, this request was rejected by Judge Nelson.
O'Mara also called to the stand Ben Krudibos, a man the defense said is a whistle-blower who brought to the attention the deleted texts, photographs and video found on Martin's cell phone. (Some of these were incriminating evidence, like Martin holding a gun and smoking marijuana). While these photos were not allowed to be mentioned in Zimmerman's opening statement, Judge Nelson left open the possibility they could be used later on as the trial proceeds.
