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Calls amid Zimmerman trial witness' Skype testimony elicit laughter

Callers try to interrupt Scott Pleasants as he gives his testimony via Skype on day eighteen of George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court Sanford, Florida, July 3, 2013. Zimmerman is accused of second degree murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. UPI/Jacob Langston/Pool
1 of 2 | Callers try to interrupt Scott Pleasants as he gives his testimony via Skype on day eighteen of George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court Sanford, Florida, July 3, 2013. Zimmerman is accused of second degree murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. UPI/Jacob Langston/Pool | License Photo

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SANFORD, Fla., July 3 (UPI) -- An attempt to have a witness testify via Skype in the George Zimmerman murder trial in Florida elicited laughter when numerous incoming calls interrupted him.

Scott Pleasants, a professor at Seminole State College, was trying to testify from Colorado about his contact with Zimmerman as one of his students in 2010 when a slew of incoming calls from the public to Pleasants' Skype account made it impractical, WFTV, Orlando, reported. Presiding Judge Debra Nelson ordered prosecutors to halt the testimony until the video connection could be re-established on another phone line.

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The audio and pop-ups from the incoming calls prompted laughter in the courtroom, the TV station said.

Zimmerman is on trial for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The neighborhood watch volunteer contends he shot the unarmed 17-year-old in a gated community in Sanford in self-defense.

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