Witness Skype testimony interrupted during Zimmerman trial - NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side

(RNN) - The good and bad of social media technology manifested itself in the middle of testimony at George Zimmerman's trial Wednesday.

Gordon Scott Pleasants, a professor at Seminole State Community College where Zimmerman took classes, was answering defense questions via Skype during cross examination.

However, a steady string of distracting calls from a user named "Salman Talpur" began to come in, which Zimmerman's defense attorney clumsily tried to reject.

Soon after that, calls from "Tay," "Marcus" and others flooded in, filling the screen and blocking Pleasants' face.

It is unlikely the defense or Pleasants knew their online "friends" – CNN did not block out the Skype username while broadcasting the live testimony on national TV.

Naturally, his testimony came to a standstill. Pleasants began laughing, and it forced the court to take a quick break and switch to a speakerphone hookup.

He finished testifying by speakerphone within minutes after the trial resumed.

Copyright 2013 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.