ORLANDO, Fla. _ Matthew Apperson _ who shot at one of Sanford's most notorious residents in May _ called on the man's ex-girlfriend Thursday as part of his self-defense claim against George Zimmerman.
Samantha Scheibe testified that Zimmerman brandished a gun, broke her table and locked her out of her house during an argument in 2013, a dispute in which Zimmerman was arrested but not charged. A friend of his for 15 years, Scheibe said she never feared Zimmerman would hurt her, though.
"I was more in fear about what he was planning to do to himself or to my belongings," she testified before a jury Thursday. "Especially after I was locked out of my house, I was definitely not in fear."
Scheibe's testimony capped four days of witnesses being called in Apperson's trial. The jury will start deliberation Friday after hearing closing arguments from attorneys. Apperson, 27, of Winter Springs faces charges of attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection with a May 11 confrontation with Zimmerman.
Apperson gave his side of the story Thursday as he testified for nearly two hours.
Zimmerman, 32, testified for about seven hours earlier this week, but was recalled to the stand Thursday by Apperson's attorney. Michael LaFay then asked Zimmerman about his fatal encounter with Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black 17-year-old whom Zimmerman shot in Sanford in 2012.
A jury acquitted Zimmerman of murder in Martin's death, but LaFay has repeatedly invoked the case throughout Apperson's trial. The topic rests at the heart of the feud between the two men.
Apperson on Thursday described his first encounter with Zimmerman, a random run-in as the two were driving side-by-side on Lake Mary Boulevard on Sept. 9, 2014.
Apperson said he was tapping his steering wheel to music when the car beside him rolled down a window and the driver, whom he recognized as Zimmerman, started screaming. Apperson said he told Zimmerman he was wrong to shoot Martin, which seemed to enrage him.
"It was nuts," Apperson testified Thursday. "Here I am, minding my own business and out of nowhere I got, frankly, this nut job following me and threatening to shoot me. Bluntly, I thought he was dangerous."
Apperson said the FBI interviewed him later about Zimmerman in connection with a different case, heightening his fears. He testified he didn't have any details about that investigation.
So when the two were driving next each other again, eight months later, on the same road, Apperson said Zimmerman flashed a gun and he fired a shot into Zimmerman's car in self-defense.
The bullet penetrated the passenger side window of Zimmerman's truck, eventually lodging itself in the car's metal frame. Zimmerman was not hit, but suffered cuts to his face and arm from shattered glass and other fragments.
Jurors listened to 911 calls on Thursday from two of Apperson's run-ins with Zimmerman. Apperson made the first call from a gas station after he said Zimmerman threatened him and followed him in 2014. Apperson made the second call after the May shooting.
Zimmerman testified on Wednesday that he didn't pull a gun. Prosecutors have argued Zimmerman's windows were rolled up and darkly tinted, making it impossible for Apperson to see inside. They insist Apperson was the instigator.
Zimmerman's doctor is near Apperson's workplace, which could help explain why the two have bumped into each other at least three times in less than a year.
