Friday, Oct. 26, 7:53 a.m.: Trayvon Martin look-alike contest in Kansas: The Grant Cushinberry Birthday Celebration in Eastern Topeka, Kan., crowned a winner in a Trayvon Martin look-alike contest, with the event organizer saying about the winner, "He looks just like Trayvon when he has his hoodie pulled up." The Topeka-Capital Journal reports that the contest was sponsored in part to draw attention to ongoing rallies led by Scroggins that protest Trayvon's shooting death this past March in Florida and to garner support to overturn "Stand your ground" laws such as the one in Florida.
Thursday, Oct. 25, 11:15 a.m. EDT: George Zimmerman's lawyers: Cops will testify for us: In an unusual development, George Zimmerman's defense team has notified prosecutors that their witness list now includes members of the Sanford Police Department's chain of command at the time of Trayvon Martin's death, including the police chief, major-crimes captain and case detectives. Normally, police officers testify for the state, explaining how they gathered the evidence that led to charges, the Orlando Sentinel explains.
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 12:44 p.m. EDT: The media and George Zimmerman's defense team fight gag order request: Various local and national news outlets, in a filing Tuesday, argue that prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda is "asking the court to violate the media's First Amendment right to gather news and information" by silencing Zimmerman's defense with a gag order, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Meanwhile, Zimmerman's defense team today asked supporters to point out the most objectionable things they've said and written so that they can prepare for a gag order hearing Friday in Sanford. "Again, we are confident all our statements are easily defendable, we just want to know what we're likely to have thrown back at us." De la Rionda alleges that O'Mara is trying to taint the jury pool.
Monday, Oct. 22, 11:11 a.m. EDT: George Zimmerman's defense gains access to Trayvon Martin's school and social media records: A judge ruled Friday that attorneys for neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman can inspect the school records and social media postings of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager he is accused of murdering, to "see if they give any evidence that he had violent tendencies," the Associated Press reports.
Read last week's updates on the Trayvon Martin case here.
Read all of The Root's news and commentary about the Trayvon Martin case here.