And in between court sessions this morning we asked Laddie's foster family what they thought of all the police activity that descended upon the court this morning.
It was notable because the victim was an innocent 14 year old boy, while the alleged perpetrator was a 27 year old Corporal. And today, the presence of more armed police - while it may have been necessary - seemed to some to hit an off note. After all, it's not just Martinez on trial, but an entire mode of policing young black men that led to this fatal shooting.
Here's what the family told us about the heavy police presence:
Emil Bradley, Laddie's Foster Dad
"Well, you know we are people, we don't believe in violence, we are trying to settle this as peaceful as possible but they know what they did and they know why they are expecting what they are expecting why they come out in such numbers but we, at this point in time. We noh den pain dat. We no den fi give trouble right now, men ah say it ina Kriol we noh di give trouble right now we just want to listen and allow the justice to take it's course."
Lucy Fleming, Laddie's Foster Grandmother
"We had called for, if there were going to be any demonstrations today, we put out a media release calling for peace because after all we've come here through violence. We are here because of violence. It's the last thing we want, I was quite shocked to tell you the truth I thought oh my goodness. Here is someone who took down a fourteen year old boy being protected by big police men with armaments, it did seem quite unfair to me, you know in the grand scheme of things."
Martinez's trial began today and resumes Monday. It is expected to continue up until Friday of next week.
