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Zimmerman trial: How will the jury react to Rachel Jeantel?

The friend who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot and killed has become one of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the George
Witness Rachel Jeantel giving testimony during George Zimmerman's trial on June 27, 2013 in Sanford, Fla. (Photo by Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/AP/Pool)
Witness Rachel Jeantel giving testimony during George Zimmerman's trial on June 27, 2013 in Sanford, Fla.

The friend who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot and killed has become one of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the George Zimmerman murder trial. She spent two days on the witness stand and more than five hours under cross examination by the defense.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty, saying he shot Martin in self-defense after the teenager attacked him.

On Thursday’s PoliticsNation, criminal defense attorney Billy Martin and former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey joined the show to discuss Jeantel's performance on the stand, and whether the jury is likely to see her as a sympathetic witness or as someone unreliable.

Editor’s note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.