We don't know if Zimmerman is guilty

[slackmaster]

65. I see two separate issues - Whether what Zimmerman did was illegal, and whether it was wrong.

The answer to the second is clear to me - Shooting Trayvon Martin was wrong because it could have been avoided so easily. Zimmerman created a situation that he did not need to create. He provoked a confrontation that did not need to happen. It escalated into a physical fight that should never have happened. He could have, should have, kept his distance and stayed in his car.

People often do things that are legal but would be regarded by most as morally wrong. I think it is conceivable that a jury will determine that the use of deadly force was justifiable under the specific circumstances. What those exact circumstances are, I don't know and may never know. Evidently the prosecutor decided that there is a reasonable chance of getting a conviction, and I have to assume that decision was based on a whole lot of information that I haven't seen or heard in addition to the tons of largely unreliable things that I have seen and heard from various sources.

An acquittal may be the outcome of a trial. Also, I believe that juries in Florida can be given the option of returning a conviction on a lesser offense than the indictment carries. No matter what the outcome of the trial, I will maintain that what George Zimmerman did was wrong - On this my mind is firmly made up.

If he is acquitted, I am open to the idea that an acquittal could indicate a need for clarification in Florida's law on use of deadly force. I think California's laws are much clearer and more reasonable.

OTOH if he is convicted, that would weaken any claims that Florida's Stand Your Ground law is a license to kill at will.