The left-to-right movement reported by the witness is damaging to the defense because it indicates two things: 1) the altercation started south of the T contrary to what Zimmerman claimed and 2) the fight traveled signficantly before the kid was shot…which again contradicts Zimmerman’s story.
The witness also reported seeing two people standing up during most of the exchange. Not only does this contradict Z, but this contradicts W6, who says he saw two guys on the ground.
With the way the defense pounced on Witness 1, they might as well have held up a sign announcing to the jury that their Achille’s heels are getting trampled on. If the fight traveled, who was chasing whom? Why would Zimmerman lie about the trajectory if he’d been the one being chased? How did the fight start south of the T, if Zimmerman called off his search for the kid? These are questions an intelligent juror should be considering.
O’Mara badgered the witness but didn’t succeed in getting her to recant these claims. In addition, witnesses can sign all the petitions they want and still be credible. Exercising one’s 5th amendment rights doesn’t suddenly turn someone into a liar. The fact that O’Mara had to grasp at such a straw should be another clue to the jury that the defense’s case is a shaky as a house of cards.