Once a jury is convened in the Trayvon Martin case, its members are unlikely to be especially concerned with the injuries George Zimmerman suffered while he was killing Martin. They aren't going to find him less culpable because his victim went down fighting. If I were a juror, I think I would be surprised that Zimmerman was presenting his wounds as part of his defense. Any cuts and bruises Zimmerman sustained are just evidence that Martin knew he was fighting for his life.
The jury will also not be preoccupied with the substances found in the bloodstream of Martin's dead body. They won't find Zimmerman not guilty based on something his victim had smoked. I don't think they will care whether Martin was high as a kite or drunk on moonshine. It won't matter if he had on a hoodie, a ski mask or war paint. In fact, the more the defense tried to present Martin as though he looked like a thug, the more I would wonder as a juror why Zimmerman ever got out of his car. How did he go from observing Martin through his rain-splattered windshield, to tussling with him on the ground and shooting him? Zimmerman says he had to kill Martin to save his own life. How was it that he came to be in such a deadly predicament?
The jury will be presented with testimony about whose voice can be heard yelling for help, and which man was seen by witnesses on top of the other. There will be copies given out of Trayvon Martin's autopsy report, with estimates of how far the gun was away from his chest when Zimmerman fired the fatal shot. The jurors should certainly study all of this information carefully - I know I would want to know every possible detail.
But regardless of what happened at the moment when Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman came face-to-face, Zimmerman has to explain why they came face-to-face. That is what jurors will care about. And because he is claiming self-defense, the burden of proof is on Zimmerman. His attorneys will have to convince those jurors that what he did was not 2nd-degree murder.
They will have to explain this: Zimmerman spotted Martin walking, thought he looked suspicious, and called the police. They told him to stay put, but he followed Martin anyway. There was an altercation. A couple of minutes later, Zimmerman was breathlessly talking to police, showing them his bloody scalp and battered nose. Trayvon Martin was lying dead in the wet grass beside them.
The jury will also not be preoccupied with the substances found in the bloodstream of Martin's dead body. They won't find Zimmerman not guilty based on something his victim had smoked. I don't think they will care whether Martin was high as a kite or drunk on moonshine. It won't matter if he had on a hoodie, a ski mask or war paint. In fact, the more the defense tried to present Martin as though he looked like a thug, the more I would wonder as a juror why Zimmerman ever got out of his car. How did he go from observing Martin through his rain-splattered windshield, to tussling with him on the ground and shooting him? Zimmerman says he had to kill Martin to save his own life. How was it that he came to be in such a deadly predicament?
The jury will be presented with testimony about whose voice can be heard yelling for help, and which man was seen by witnesses on top of the other. There will be copies given out of Trayvon Martin's autopsy report, with estimates of how far the gun was away from his chest when Zimmerman fired the fatal shot. The jurors should certainly study all of this information carefully - I know I would want to know every possible detail.
But regardless of what happened at the moment when Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman came face-to-face, Zimmerman has to explain why they came face-to-face. That is what jurors will care about. And because he is claiming self-defense, the burden of proof is on Zimmerman. His attorneys will have to convince those jurors that what he did was not 2nd-degree murder.
They will have to explain this: Zimmerman spotted Martin walking, thought he looked suspicious, and called the police. They told him to stay put, but he followed Martin anyway. There was an altercation. A couple of minutes later, Zimmerman was breathlessly talking to police, showing them his bloody scalp and battered nose. Trayvon Martin was lying dead in the wet grass beside them.
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