Jurors in the George Zimmerman murder trial have stopped deliberating and will return Saturday morning to resume their discussions.
After three and a half hours, the jury of six women told the judge Friday that they wanted to break for the night and return the next day. About two hours into their discussions, they asked for a list of the evidence.
Jurors left the courtroom at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center at about 2:30 p.m. Friday. They must decide if Zimmerman committed second-degree murder or manslaughter, or if he acted in self-defense.
See LIVE UPDATES from closing arguments and jury instructions.
The jury spent three weeks hearing dueling portraits of the Zimmerman: a "wannabe cop" who took the law into his own hands, or a well-meaning neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin because he feared for his life.
Before Judge Debra Nelson read her final instructions to the jury, Zimmerman's lawyers put a concrete slab and two life-size cardboard cutouts in front of the jury box in one last attempt to convince the panel Zimmerman shot the unarmed 17-year-old Martin in self-defense.
Attorney Mark O'Mara used the slab to make the point that it could be used as a weapon. He showed cutouts of Zimmerman and Martin to demonstrate that the teenager was considerably taller and he displayed a computer-animated depiction of the fight based on Zimmerman's account.
He said prosecutors hadn't met their burden of proving Zimmerman's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, he said, the murder case was built on "could've beens" and "maybes."
"If it hasn't been proven, it's just not there," O'Mara said. "You can't fill in the gaps. You can't connect the dots. You're not allowed to."
In a rebuttal, prosecutor John Guy accused Zimmerman of telling "so many lies." He said Martin's last emotion was one of fear as Zimmerman followed him in a neighborhood of townhomes on a rainy night Feb. 26, 2012.
"Isn't that every child's worst nightmare, to be followed on the way home in the dark by a stranger?" Guy said. "Isn't that every child's worst fear?"
One juror, a young woman, appeared to wipe away a tear as Guy said nothing would ever bring back Martin.
The sequestered jury of six women will have to sort through a lot conflicting testimony from police, neighbors, friends and family members. Witnesses gave differing accounts of who was on top during the struggle, and Martin's parents and Zimmerman's parents both claimed that the voice heard screaming for help in the background of a 911 call was their son's.
Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder, but the jury was also allowed to consider manslaughter. He faces a maximum prison sentence of life on the second-degree murder charge and 30 years if convicted of manslaughter.
Allowing the jurors to consider manslaughter could give those who aren't convinced the shooting amounted to murder a way to hold Zimmerman responsible for the death of the unarmed teen.
To get a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors must show only that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification.
O'Mara dismissed the prosecution's contention that Zimmerman was a "crazy guy" patrolling his townhouse complex and "looking for people to harass" when he saw Martin. O'Mara also disputed prosecutors' claim that Zimmerman snapped when he saw Martin because there had been a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood, mostly by young black men.
The defense attorney said Zimmerman at no point showed ill will, hate or spite during his confrontation with Martin - which is what prosecutors must prove for second-degree murder.
"That presumption isn't based on any fact whatsoever," O'Mara said.
In contrast, prosecutors argued Zimmerman showed ill will when he whispered profanities to a police dispatcher over his cellphone while following Martin through the neighborhood. They said Zimmerman "profiled" the teenager as a criminal.
Guy said Zimmerman violated the cornerstone of neighborhood watch volunteer programs, which is to observe and report, not follow a suspect.
Zimmerman's account of how he grabbed his gun from his holster at his waist as Martin straddled him is physically impossible, Guy said.
"The defendant didn't shoot Trayvon Martin because he had to, he shot him because he wanted to," Guy said. "That's the bottom line."
But to invoke self-defense, Zimmerman only had to believe he was facing great bodily harm, his attorney said. He asked jurors not to let their sympathies for Martin's parents interfere with their decision.
"It is a tragedy, truly," O'Mara said. "But you can't allow sympathy."
With the verdict drawing near, police and city leaders in Sanford and other parts of Florida said they have taken precautions for the possibility of mass protests or even civil unrest if Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, is acquitted.
There were big protests in Sanford and other cities across the country last year when authorities waited 44 days before arresting Zimmerman.
Guy told the jury the case wasn't about race.
"It's about right and wrong," he said. "It's that simple."
Zimmerman family statement
George Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., released the following statement Friday evening after the jury adjourned for the night:
"From the onset of this tragic event our family has been clear to express our trust in the judicial system. A jury of one's peers is the hallmark of our country's judicial system. The American justice system is the finest in the world. George's fate is now in the hands of the jury, who will make their decision based on evidence and the facts of the case. As we await a verdict we will remain hopeful and ask for the public to remain peaceful, no matter the outcome. Though we maintain George committed no crime whatsoever, we acknowledge that the people who called for George's arrest and subsequent trial have now witnessed both events come to pass. We hope now that as Americans we will all respect the rule of law, which begins with respecting the verdict. The judicial system has run its course - pray for justice, pray for peace, pray for our country."