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George Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara, right, questions forensics animation expert Daniel Schumaker, center, at the bench of Judge Debra Nelson with Assistant State Attorney Richard Mantei, left, during a hearing Tuesday, July 9, about the admissibility of animation created for the defense. Schumaker showed the judge and Mantei some 3-D animation on his laptop after an overhead projector didn't work. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

John Donnelly, a friend of George Zimmerman's, cries on the witness stand on Monday, July 8, in Sanford, Florida, after listening to screams on the 911 tape entered in evidence.

Sondra Osterman, a friend of Zimmerman's, listens to the 911 tape while testifying on July 8.

Mark Osterman, a friend of Zimmerman's, testifies on July 8 and describes the type of gun Zimmerman owned.

Leanne Benjamin, a friend of Zimmerman's, smiles while identifying him in court on July 8.

Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, takes the stand during Zimmerman's trial on Friday, July 5.

George Zimmerman's mother, Gladys Zimmerman, listens to the 911 tape while taking the stand during his trial in Seminole County circuit court on July 5.

Martin's brother Jahvaris Fulton testifies at the Zimmerman trial in Seminole County circuit court on July 5.

Volusia and Seminole County associate medical examiner Shiping Bao testifies on July 5. Bao conducted the final autopsy on Martin and determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Lab Analyst Anthony Gorgone testifies about DNA findings on Wednesday, July 3, in Sanford, Florida. Here, Gorgone points to a sweatshirt worn by Trayvon Martin on the night Martin was shot. Only one stain on Martin's hooded jacket yielded a partial DNA profile that matched Zimmerman's.

Gorgone points to a jacket worn by Zimmerman on the night of the shooting. Multiple stains on Zimmerman's jacket tested positive for Zimmerman's DNA. At least two stains from the jacket tested positive for a mixture of DNA that included Martin's DNA.

Firearms analyst Amy Siewert from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement answers questions from the prosecution while holding Zimmerman's gun on July 3. Siewert examined the gun and said Zimmerman had one bullet ready to fire in the chamber as well as a fully loaded magazine when the shooting occurred.

Alexis Carter, a military prosecutor, testifies during the trial on July 3. Carter taught a criminal litigation class that Zimmerman completed, and testified that the class included extensive coverage of Florida's self-defense laws.

Mark Osterman, a U.S. Air Marshal and friend of Zimmerman's who wrote a book about the case, testifies on Tuesday, July 2. He recounted the story of the shooting that Zimmerman told him and testified that when he took Zimmerman home from the police station after the shooting, Zimmerman wasn't acting like himself.

Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, on July 2, demonstrates a possible scenario while questioning state witness Chris Serino, a Sanford police officer.

Hirotaka Nakasone, a voice recognition expert with the FBI, testifies in the Zimmerman trial on Monday, July 1.

Witness Jonathan Good is cross-examined by defense attorney Mark O'Mara on Friday, June 28.

Selma Mora reenacts a scenario for defense attorney Mark O'Mara on Thursday, June 27. Mora lived in Zimmerman's neighborhood at the time of the shooting.

Witness Jennifer Lauer points to where her former home was in the Retreat at Twin Lakes community during questioning by defense attorney Mark O'Mara on June 27. Lauer called 911 on the night of the shooting.

Rachel Jeantel, a friend of Martin's, is questioned by defense attorney Don West on June 27. She appeared to get frustrated several times during the cross-examination, including one time when West suggested they could break until the morning so she'd have more time to review the deposition transcript.

The evidence letter that Jeantel says she wrote with a friend for Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, is displayed during the trial on June 27. When the defense asked Jeantel to read the letter, she said she couldn't read cursive. She asked a friend to write the letter for her, she said.

Jeantel testifies on Wednesday, June 26. She was the last person to speak with Martin on the phone.

Zimmerman walks past Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton, left, and Tracy Martin, second from left, as he enters the courtroom after lunch recess on June 26.

Diana Smith of the Sanford Police Department on Tuesday, June 25, shows the jury a bag of Skittles that was collected as evidence at the crime scene. Martin was said to be carrying the bag of candy and a soft drink at the time of his death.

Assistant state attorneys John Guy, left, and Richard Mantei hold up Martin's sweatshirt as evidence during Zimmerman's trial on June 25. After Martin's death, protesters started wearing hoodies in solidarity against racial profiling.

During the trial on June 25, crime scene technician Diana Smith shows the jury a gun that was collected as evidence.

Zimmerman laughs with defense attorney Don West during his trial on June 25.

Selene Bahadoor enters the courtroom to take the witness stand on June 25. She was the first eyewitness to testify and said the shooting occured right behind her home.

Seminole County 911 dispatcher Sean Noffke testifies on Monday, June 24, about his conversation with Zimmerman on a non-emergency line the night of the shooting.

A transcript of Zimmerman's police call on the night of the shooting is projected during opening arguments on June 24.

Martin's father, Tracy Martin, cries on June 24 as he listens to the description of his son's death.

Prosecutor John Guy gestures during his opening arguments on June 24. His first words to the six-woman jury may have raised a few eyebrows. "Good morning. 'F*****g punks, these a******s all get away,'" Guy quoted Zimmerman. "These were the words in this grown man's mouth as he followed this boy that he didn't know. Those were his words, not mine."

From left, Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman Sr.; his mother, Gladys; and his wife, Shellie, are escorted from the courtroom on June 24. Since they are all on the witness list, the judge ruled they cannot be present in the courtroom until after they testify.

Defense attorney Don West displays a photo of Zimmerman from the night of the shooting during his opening arguments on June 24. He opened his statements with a knock-knock joke but failed to win a laugh. "Knock knock. Who's there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Good, you're on the jury," he said.

A video entered as evidence is displayed on June 24. It shows Martin, right, at a 7-Eleven on the night of his shooting.

From left, Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, and Benjamin Crump, the family's legal counsel, make a brief statement to the media before jurors heard opening statements on June 24.

Zimmerman waits for the start of his trial on June 24.

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Editor's note: Roxanne Jones is a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine and former vice president at ESPN. She is the CEO of The Push Marketing Group. Jones is an award-winning editor, reporter, writer and producer who has also worked at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer across news and sports. She is co-author of "Say It Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete" (Random House).

(CNN) -- We have all been duped in the Trayvon Martin case. Bamboozled.

This case was never "open and shut" as Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump insisted in a news conference at the start of the trial. I doubted it was that easy from Day One.

Said Crump then: "The jury will have to hear all of the evidence. We think this is a simple case. No. 1: Zimmerman was a grown man with a gun. No. 2: Trayvon was a child with no blood on his hands. Literally."

When I heard Crump's words, I was immediately suspicious. Could it really be that simple? Or was the attorney just trying to placate a grieving family and spin an angle for the media? Did Crump really believe that "Justice for All" had finally arrived in our nation? And that the damning stereotypes associated with race and class would have no room in a Florida courtroom where George Zimmerman is being charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martin?

Get the latest updates at HLNTV.com's live blog

I'm no cynic but I am a realist. A realist who's covered enough criminal trials to know for certain that the trial that plays out in the public over pep rally vigils and celebrity protests is never the trial that unfolds in the courtroom. I understand that race still matters deeply in our courtrooms, just as it does in our nation. And there's no getting away from that fact.

As the trial of Zimmerman continues, nothing is as simple as it seems.

"This case is a perfect storm," says Xavier Donaldson, a defense attorney and former prosecutor in New York. "You have to look at the nature of the case and the racial, political and social economics of the defendant and accused. You have a young black kid, walking with a sweatshirt on and some guy, who wants to be a cop, assumes he's a criminal and shoots him dead." Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Who's screaming on the 911 call?

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"Zimmerman had an image in his community as a good guy, who wanted to protect people. So he -- and not Martin, the victim -- has gotten the benefit of presumption of innocence. Normally, in murder cases that doesn't happen. People generally believe that if you've been arrested and charged that you must have done something wrong, but those lines are blurred here," says Donaldson.

It seems Zimmerman, in part because he belonged to his neighborhood watch group, has been granted the status of a police officer. He even has police officers testifying in his favor that Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, told them that the voice screaming for help on the 911 call was "not his son" when he heard the tape for the first time. The father strongly denies he said those words to the police.

Normally, the prosecutor in a high-profile murder case puts forth evidence to prove the defendant's guilt and aggressively goes after any notion that suggests that the victim is at fault. The prosecution's goal is to do anything it can to convince a jury that the killer is a menace that needs to be taken off the street. That's how the battle is won in the courtroom.

But in the trial of Zimmerman, the prosecution -- Richard Mantei -- appears to be lying low and taking too many punches. Could it be that Mantei himself buys into the theory that Zimmerman is some misunderstood a do-gooder in the community? It's just puzzling.

Words matter, as we have seen over the course of the trial. So when Mantei told the court before resting his case: "There are two people involved here. One of them is dead, and one of them is a liar," I was shocked.

This is a murder case. One person is dead, and the other person is a murderer. Those words more accurately describe the facts presented in the case. There is no question that Zimmerman killed Martin, so there's no reason to tiptoe around the words.

And that's exactly what is so troubling for myself and many others, especially in the black community. It has been all too easy an idea for people to entertain that Martin did something to cause his own murder. History tells us that in our nation's courtrooms and even outside of those walls, my son, your son, our sons still don't have the presumption of innocence, even when they are the victims of a murder.

"I would have told Martin's parents, 'prepare for hell,' " says Donaldson. "It will not be easy. They will present evidence that will make your son look like the worst criminal. The defenses' goal is to turn your son into the criminal here and make him guilty of the crime."

No one knows yet how this trial will end. Donaldson feels it's too close to call until rebuttals are made and the case wraps up. "It could go either way," Donaldson says.

But I do know one thing: We should not have to wear a Trayvon T-shirt to an awards show or attend a pep rally to remind America that when an unarmed child is confronted and gunned down in the street by a grown man who's trained to kill, that's murder. End of story.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roxanne Jones.