I blame the prosecution.

[yardwork]

12. There were lots of inconsistencies and obvious lies in Zimmerman's story.

A competent prosecution would have laid out the inconsistencies.

For instance, no reasonable person would believe that Zimmerman's head was "smashed 20 or 30 times against the concrete sidewalk" after seeing the photos of Zimmerman's actual injuries. His injuries were so minimal it is not at all clear that Martin ever laid a hand on him. The prosecution should have laid that out for the jury.

Another example is Zimmerman's unbelievable story about how Martin "grabbed at his gun two or three times" and how Zimmerman was then forced to draw the gun and shoot Martin. Ok, Zimmerman also told police that his gun was in a hidden holster under his waistband, over his right butt cheek. And Zimmerman told the police in his reenactment video that Martin had him on his back, straddling him, with his knees on his legs, smashing his head into the concrete. Ok, tell me how Zimmerman draws a gun behind his right butt cheek with a seventeen year old pinning him down? Physically impossible. Also highly unlikely that right-handed Martin would have been able to "grab" Zimmerman's hidden gun under the right side of his butt in that scenario. So this is an obvious fabrication on Zimmerman's part.

If the prosecution had done a better job of pointing out these physical impossibilities that point to Zimmerman lying, then that undoes Zimmerman's entire story, his only reason to feel in fear for his life. If the jury had had these lies shown to them, then I think that they might have voted to convict, but again the highly-charged racial issues call that into doubt.