FU, GZ..."Court docs: Trayvon Martin shooting 'ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman'"

[magical thyme]

62. Zimmerman did not walk up to Martin and ask him what he was doing

He chased him. Martin was running for his life. That is legal assault right there.

He ran Martin down, and Martin only stopped running and "stood his ground" because he was too out of breath to keep running.


A witness saw the chase. Not just walking along, not even just following. Chasing. As in running after him.

A witness heard the beginning of the argument. One voice was domineering and argumentative -- and demanded to know "what are you doing here?" or something to that effect.

A witness (Martin's girlfriend) discussed with him his fear and his running away from a threat.

Do you know what assault and battery is? Assault is the threat of violence. When Zimmerman started chasing Martin, his actions threatened violence. Battery is when you actually start hitting.

Per wiki: Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (physical violence).

Note that it does not specify a verbal threat of violence. Actions can threaten as well. And Martin's girlfriend's testimony makes it clear that Martin was afraid. He felt threatened, as any reasonable person would. He had a legal right to stand his ground and defend himself.

Aggression is not synonymous with punching. It does not boil down to who threw the first punch. It boils down to who assaulted who first. Zimmerman's actions of following in his car, and then chasing and running Martin down constituted a threat of violence. They constitute assault. Any reasonable person would have been afraid and felt threatened in such circumstances. Zimmerman assaulted Martin long before anybody punched anybody.

The only question is was Zimmerman afraid for his life? Was there some action he could take, short of killing Martin, to defend himself.

The initial police on the case said yes, he could have avoided killing Martin.
A reasonable person says yes, he could have avoided killing Martin. Nobody forced him to chase and threaten Martin. And once Martin stood his ground and defended himself from assault, Zimmerman still did not need to kill him to escape. At that point, instead of yelling for help he could have easily yelled I have a gun and pulled it out without shooting. All he had to do is pull it out and aim, but not unlock the safety and not pull the trigger. His gun takes almost 4 pounds of force to pull the trigger. He could have even unlocked the safety and not pulled the trigger.