Quite a preposterous amount of misinformation in this thread.
- Zimmerman was following Martin. This act is questionable for a number of reasons, but not illegal at all, especially as he's a member of neighborhood watch. The prosecution produced 0 evidence ever that Zimmerman had intent to shoot at this time, and without it 2nd degree murder is impossible already.
- While being followed, Martin turned around an engaged in the initial actual contact with Zimmerman. A witness for the *prosecution* testified to this.
- Zimmerman had significant physical injury while Martin's only injury was the gunshot wound. It is unlikely that Zimmerman's wounds were inflicted after the shooting.
- The forensic expert testified that the bullet's penetration and Martin's body were consistent with Zimmerman's story. This was a very strong piece of evidence, one of the strongest in the case! Half or more of the people posting in this thread could kill or permanently maim someone via ground and pound.
In other words:
1. Zimmerman did something pretty stupid, but not strictly illegal.
2. Zimmerman was the victim of *assault* and *battery*, serious felony crimes. Claiming Martin did nothing is asinine; he was followed, yes, but he chose to engage and assault Zimmerman.
3. In response to being assaulted and claiming that he saw no indication the assault would cease, Zimmerman shot Martin. Once, which says something also.
There are some other minor pieces to this, such as Martin having small amounts of marijuana in his body etc, but are virtually non-issue compared to the above.
Now, there are some things we can't know. We don't know if Zimmerman incited Martin to attack him via more than simply following him. We can never know Zimmerman's state of mind for certain at the time, nor Martin's.
What we DO know is that the evidence suggests PLENTY of doubt that Zimmerman was guilty of even manslaughter, since the self-defense aspect put forth was so strong. Someone who has been struck multiple times and is mounted is in serious trouble. They stop those situations in UFC for a reason; any serious time spent being struck out of that position is life threatening. Zimmerman claimed Martin actually threatened his life; we can't know if that is true. We do know he was being assaulted in a dangerous fashion however...one that could reasonably be construed as life threatening.
Lacking any evidence against that point, the prosecution had no case at all and a "not guilty" result was the only responsible conclusion based on the law.
Following someone is not a crime. Assault and battery are crimes. It is that, not the hoodie (freaking ignorant media bullcrap), that justified the self defense position.
M was a guest of a resident of the gated community. He had every right to be there.
We're talking about a dark night, with Martin staying pretty close to houses. As it was raining, that is a perfectly reasonable course of action, but to an observer could also be mistaken. Regardless, attacking Zimmerman was even more senseless than following Martin, and more importantly far more dangerous and illegal.
