Culture

Judge Allows Trayvon Martin Marijuana Use to be Introduced in Trial

Had THC in his system during encounter with George Zimmerman

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Defense lawyers will be permitted to show that Trayvon Martin had marijuana in his system when he and George Zimmerman had their fateful encounter in a gated community in Florida last year, the judge in Zimmerman's murder trial ruled Monday.

Judge Debra Nelson denied a motion by prosecutors to keep toxicology results showing THC in Martin's system from the jury, paving the way for Zimmerman's lawyers to argue the drug may have influenced the teen's behavior. Defense attorney Don West noted that in Zimmerman's statement to the non-emergency 911 dispatcher that it appeared the person he was observing in the Sanford, Fla., community was "on drugs."