There is not one shred of evidence Zimmerman was defending himself

[wercal]

123. Its a court case...it doesn't matter what I believe.

1) None of the things you listed prove that Martin was threatening Zimmerman. Before the fight? Nope, there is no evidence either way. During the fight - you've got John Reed's testimony.

2) I've never claimed that Zimmerman will be convicted. Good...I highly doubt he will be.

3) It does matter that Zimmerman followed him. Martin would still be alive today if Z stayed put.

Under the law, it doesn't matter...unless the prosecution can argue this was so out of the ordinary and wreckless, that any reasonable person would know it could result in death...but we've already heard the police dipatcher say that he didn't more adamantly tell Z to stop, 'because of liability to the department'. So, the dispatcher certainly think it was a life threatening action, so that is a tough road for the prosecution to go down.

As far as 'Martin would still be alive today'. That's why I told the story of our town weirdo, who was alot like Zimmerman. He self appointed himself as an advocat for the homeless...and would go tear up their camps, to force them to 'go home'. He was an abrasive, bullying, weirdo. But he didn't deserve to end up murdered. Same with Z...he's a weirdo. Fine. Following people is a little out of the norm, especially at night. But what is the response to that? Violence? That is Z's claim...and if his claim is true, the 'if/then' of the death can easily be transformed to 'If Martin had not punched Z, he would be alive'.

4) Zimmerman is a known bully and liar, yet he's the one you choose to believe. Its not that I believe Z...and it doesn't matter what I think. But do you think the jury will believe the things I cited...will they believe his injuries were cause by Martin? Will they believe John Reed's testimony. They may be inclined to believe the other witnesses...but if its a toss up, and they don't know who is lying...do they convict? Probably not.

But what do I really believe? Listening to the police dispatch call, Z is scared to death when asked to give his own address. He thinks Martin may be within earshot. Now Zimmerman has clearly lost him by now...and the timeline gives M a good 4 minutes between Z's statement 'he's running' to the end of Jeantel's call. So M could have easily traveled the 530 feet from Z's truck to his condo. But M hasn't taken complete flight,and is clearly hanging around.

Now since Z is scared to death, and by his own statement his truck headlights which stay on for a few minutes had gone out by now, and his flashlight wasn't working. So (and I can't believe more people haven't speculated about this) Z probably had his hand on his gun. If the holster had a snap, he probably had it undone. He may have even chambered a round, if he carried it with an empty chamber.

Then the confrontation. You've got M who has doubled back (Jeantel says he made it to the porch...but he's 300 feet away from there now). And you've got Z, who has bitten off more than he can chew, carrying a gun. The confrontation happens. Frankly, I think M had some part in 'starting' it, since he lingered outside and (according to Jeantel) doubled back for a meeting. Now whatever he thought he was going to start may have been amplified exponentially by Z's gun. The presence of the gun, which was probably seen alot earlier than Z states, instantly turned this from a shouting match and shoving contest, to a very violent fight. Z gets very shaky in his re-enactment here. He says he went for his phone, and M thought it was something else and attacked him...that sounds very shaky, and Z most likely was going for the pistol right there.

Then the fight starts...and contrary to the whispers of conspiracy theorists, Martin caused injuries to Z's nose and head...and was getting the best of him. And he wasn't stopping. The 911 call and witness testimony indicate this was a life or death struggle right up until the bullet was fired. Now Martin thinks he's got a strange guy with a gun he's fighting to the death against...and he may have stopped if he had knocked Z out...and Z may have over-reacted, but he clearly thought he was in danger of death. Remember, to him, M is the 'suspect'. He thinks he's a prowler, probably someone witha criminal background...so he's scared to death. And he fires the gun.

That's what I believe happened. The ingredients were one idiot weirdo, and one teen was was too young to know how to deal with weirdos (if he made it home, as Jeantel stated), he could have gone inside, locked the door, and called 9-11 himself). And a tragic ending. What does Z get? Maybe a wrongful death lawsuit..I'm not sure what FL laws are on that. Probably guilty of manslaughter...but that would be difficult to prove. Probably not guilty of murder 2 (acting with malice)....and it was a mistake to charge him with that. I just can't comprehend how some people think he was a robocop on a mission, out to kill himself a black teen...when he knew the police were on their way. The fact that he called police...and even after the dispatch suggested not sending anybody, since Z had lost M, Z still requested a cop...makes it very difficult to believe that he set out to 'hunt' M. It was a tragic misunderstanding, amplified by a weirdo and and immature teen.