Teen's Trial Continues

Right from the start there's been no doubt Nathaniel Brazill shot and killed his teacher. In a Florida courtroom, witness after witness has testified against him, from teachers to classmates, reports CBS News Correspondent Bobbi Harley.

And the actual crime was shown on a big screen in court Thursday. Frame by grainy frame, jurors watched 75 seconds of what a surveillance camera caught: a then 13-year-old Brazill in his school's hallway, raising a gun and firing, fatally shooting his middle school teacher, then running away.

But not before raising the gun again and pointing it at John James, another teacher at Lake Worth Middle school.

"I saw what he had in his hand — a little hand gun," testified James.

The key piece of evidence was played at the first-degree murder trial of Nathaniel Brazill, now 14. He is being tried as an adult and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

The defense contends the gun went off accidentally.

Grant Frederick, a video specialist hired by prosecutors, took the jury through each frame of the tape, which shows Brazill arriving by bicycle at the school and then standing outside the classroom of English teacher Barry Grunow.

He said the seventh-grader thrust both hands in front of him - he called it a "shooter's stance" - just before Grunow collapsed to the floor.

Frederick said Brazill stood outside the classroom for 20 seconds and held both hands, apparently pointing a gun at Grunow, for four seconds before running down a hall.

Brazill was an honor roll student with perfect attendance before the shooting last May on the last day of school.

Prosecutors say he was receiving a failing grade in Grunow's class and was angry that he had been suspended by an assistant principal for throwing a water balloon.

The teacher's killing was a prominent case of school violence in a country rattled by incidents such as the rampage at Columbine High School near Denver in April 1999 in which two students killed 13 people and then shot themselves dead.

The case has also attracted attention because Brazill is being tried as an adult, meaning that under Florida's sentencing guidelines he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.

Just two months ago, the case of 14-year-old Lionel Tate, who was sentenced to life in prison in Florida for the beating death two years earlier of his 6-year-old neighbor, sparked widespread criticism. Amnesty International said sentencing a child to life in prison without parole is a violation of international law.

Earlier Thursday, a friend of Brazill, Brandon Spann, testified that the defendant told him the day of the shooting he was going to return to school to cause trouble after being suspended.

Brandon Spann said Brazill asked him if he had a gun. When he asked whyhe said Brazill said he wanted to "f--- up" the school. Police said the weapon Brazill used was a pistol he had stolen from his grandfather's house days earlier.

Two students testified Brazill cocked the gun, pointed it at Grunow and shot him as he stood in the doorway of his classroom.

"He triggered it. Like, he pulled the top of the gun back," said Shantia Blackmon, an eighth grader who was in the classroom next door.

A tearful Dinora Rosales, who said Brazill had been romantically interested in her for more than a year before the shooting, said she was standing next to Grunow in the doorway of his language arts classroom when Brazill demanded to be allowed to talk to her and another girl.

"He pulled it out and held it up for like three seconds and then he shot him," Rosales said.

She said Brazill was obviously upset about something but held up the gun calmly and cocked the trigger before firing.

"Yeah, he cocked the gun, you know, like you see on TV. They'll pull something back and then shoot it. He did like that, waited about three seconds and shot him," Rosales said.

Outside the courthouse, about 30 people protested the decision to try Brazill as an adult.

"They are trying to make him wear adult shoes," said Mary Seacher, 69. "He has a child's mind."

But prosecutors say, to the victim, age doesn't diminish the crime — something the public doesn't always remember.

"They see a child on TV looking scared. They don't pay attention to the cries of the victim as they were made during the commission of the offense," said Florida Assistant State Attorney Alex Urruela.

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