Source: Russell Goldman / ABC News
The trial of George Zimmerman looms large over a court room more than 1,200 miles away in Milwaukee, Wisc., where opening statements began Tuesday in a murder case in which a 76-year-old white man is accused of gunning down an unarmed black teenager.
John Henry Spooner, 76, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of his neighbor, Darius Simmons, 13.
Spooner doesn’t deny shooting the boy, but his lawyers have entered a plea of not guilty due to a mental illness that impaired his ability to know right from wrong, according to court papers.
Attorneys and the judge were concerned that the Florida case, which ended Saturday with Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of Trayvon Martin, would unduly influence the jury, which was selected on Monday.
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