[UPDATE] Judge allows jury to consider lesser charge of manslaughter George Zimmerman stands next to his attorney Don West as he addresses Judge Debra Nelson on day twenty-two of his trial in Seminole circuit court Sanford, Florida, July 10, 2013. SANFORD, Fla., July 11 (UPI) -- Jurors in the trial of George Zimmerman will be able to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter, the judge in the case decided Thursday. Judge Debra Nelson granted the prosecution request for the lesser charge after Zimmerman's defense team rested its case Wednesday, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Prosecutors also want the jury to consider a charge of felony third-degree murder. The defense is opposed to both of the charges. Closing arguments are expected to begin at 1 p.m. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Under Florida law, prosecutors must prove Zimmerman did not shoot Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman, 29, contends he feared being killed by the unarmed Martin, who he alleges knocked him down, punched him in the nose, straddled him on the ground and repeatedly slammed his head into the concrete pavement. No one else clearly witnessed the altercation that led to the shooting. The prosecution maintains Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watch coordinator, pursued Martin, who was wearing a hoodie and walking in the rain in a gated community where he was a guest. It alleges Zimmerman instigated the confrontation that ended in Martin's death. Zimmerman faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged. Defense attorneys rested their case Wednesday without calling Zimmerman to the stand. There was no need, O'Mara told reporters later. After the last defense witness left the courtroom, Nelson asked Zimmerman if he had decided whether to take the stand. "After consulting with counsel," Zimmerman said, he decided "not to testify, your honor." Talking with reporters after court recessed, O'Mara said Zimmerman was of two minds about taking the stand. You know, a big part of him wanted to get in front of the jury and talk to them and say: 'This is my story. This is what I've done and this is why I did it,'" O'Mara said. "It was a very difficult decision for George to make," he said. The last defense witness was Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman. He recounted he was asked by police to listen to a recording of a 911 call made during the Zimmerman-Martin fight in which a voice in the background is heard screaming for help. The elder Zimmerman said police asked him if he recognized the voice. "I told them absolutely, it was my son, George," Robert Zimmerman said.