Do you think Zimmerman will be convicted of murder?

Zimmerman is barely bleeding. I have looked worse after playing at recess when in grade school. I certainly have looked a LOT worse after fights and never felt the need to shoot anyone.

And you wish to not call it self defense when a teen has to fight back an unstable mentally ill idiot who was stalking the said teen, just trying to get to his home while enjoying a bag of skittles and a pop, with a concealed weapon?
Look at your double-dealing standards.

The investigator at the scene wanted to try Zimmerman for manslaughter that night. The police chief, Bill Lee, overturned that homicide detective's decision.
Police did not perform a drug test or background check on Zimmerman, the shooter, but they did Trayvon, the victim. This police department already had a history of discriminatory practices towards the black community.
If it wasn't tainted from the beginning, why did Bill Lee step down? And if you say public pressure, put that in context with how the black community has been treated in Florida, and not your national/local context.

So, Zimmerman got punched in the nose. And his head was scraped on the sidewalk. You don't know exactly what sparked the confrontation, or who provoked it.

If Zimmerman feared damage from his alleged head pounding, why did he refuse to be taken to a hospital the night of the shooting?

He consulted his own doctor after the shooting only to get a letter saying he could return to work--not because his injuries were serious, or because he was concerned about them. And he ignored his doctor's suggestions for follow-up care

Did he even need to have his nose re-set after the incident? Did he receive a CAT scan to check for brain injury/trauma? Did he receive any treatment for a concussion?

Other than a little blood and some scrapes, where is the evidence of these life-threatening injuries? Zimmerman showed no evidence of having "been beaten". He was just fine the next day, just a few band-aids on the back of his head.

Getting punched in the nose and knocked down is not justification to use deadly force against an unarmed person.

And you continue to ignore the fact that Zimmerman did not say he shot Martin because of an alleged head-pounding. Or are you also confused by the many, often conflicting, versions that Zimmerman gave to the police?

This whole incident started with a kid returning home after a trip to a store--and that kid wasn't bothering anyone, and was nowhere near Zimmerman. And, if Zimmerman had left the kid alone, nothing would have happened, and Martin would still be alive.

In my opinion, based on what I know from all I've seen on this case...

Zimmerman confronted Martin as some sort of authority. Martin responded negatively and there was a fight that Martin was winning. Zimmerman pulled his gun and shot Martin.

There is nothing anyone has said or any evidence I'm aware of that contradicts this.

I think Zimmerman is a flaky cowardly wannabe cop who started a fight he couldn't finish, so he did what he longed to do - shoot someone.

Well it too bad for Trayvon that he was not beating you up instead of Zimmerman if you would had been willing to take a completely one sided beating that might had ended with you either maimed for life or dead.

This was not a fight this was a one sided beating of Zimmerman by Trayvon with Zimmerman having no idea how must damage Trayvon was planning on doing to him.

He was winning indeed as other then the bullet hole that ended the beating there was not a mark on Trayvon from this so call fight.

The way you think, you really shouldn't be carrying a gun either. You look for too many justifications to use it.

If Zimmerman hadn't been packing a gun that night, he might have used better judgment and avoided the entire incident. This was a totally needless tragedy. Carrying a gun can make one foolhardy--particuarly when the one carrying the gun has a history of problems with aggression and impulse control.

Martin wasn't bothering anyone--he was going home from the store, and was nowhere near Zimmerman. Everything about the encounter was provoked by Zimmerman.

Sorry Firefly but if a teenager would had attacked me and knocked me down and was pounding my head into the sidewalk and there was no other way to end the attack I would had done the same and I am sure my wife would had also.

No one need to take the chance of his attacker maiming him or her or killing him or her under any concept of self defense known to mankind.

Under the example I already gave concerning the crazy lady on the parking lot threatening to kill me as I stood there hoping she was just venting one of the things I was weighting is if she would pull out a lethal weapon either a knife or a gun should I response with lethal force or try to deal with her by non-legal force.

I came to the conclusion that I was under no moral or legal obligation to risk my life in order to try to save her if she would had pull a weapon as Zimmerman was under no legal or moral obligation to take a beating who end point he could not predict.

It was Trayvon who placed his own life at risk and he lost his bet that he could safety beat Zimmerman.

So why didn't Zimmerman fight back at all? Why was using his gun his only option?

How do you know his head was being pounded into the sidewalk? Because he had a few very minor scrapes on his head? There is no evidence of any head-pounding. Zimmerman is a man with significant credibility problems--which he displayed at his first bail hearing.

This teen did not confront Zimmerman, or go anywhere near him, just out of the blue--Zimmerman was the pursuer.

I repreat...This whole incident started with a kid returning home after a trip to a store--and that kid wasn't bothering anyone, and was nowhere near Zimmerman. And, if Zimmerman had left the kid alone, nothing would have happened, and Martin would still be alive.

Zimmerman's foolish, and impulsive, actions that night caused the needless death of Trayvon Martin--no matter how you look it.

Bloody nose? That's a shootin'.

My gut take (with the disclaimer that it involves guesswork that may well be wrong) is that Zimmerman was a wannabe cop and playing that role when he confronted Martin (as opposed to being attacked by Martin while going back to his car) and that Martin attacked Zimmerman out of resentment for having had been racially profiled by some guy in a truck for the last few minutes. I also believe that Zimmerman tried to fight, tried to call for help but shot Martin in panic when getting beaten relatively badly.

Yeah, our 'takes' are about the same.

He try to fight but did not place one mark on Trayvon how amazing.

What would've be more amazing is if Zimmerman could have "Stood His Ground" by remaining in his car.

Sure because people are maimed or dead from beatings by the billions every day....

Fewer people die from beatings than die from guns.
I would bet fewer people are maimed from beatings than from guns as well. I was certainly never maimed or killed.

Every account I've read of this thing has stated that Martin attacked Zimmerman under circumstances in which the most a normal person might have done would be to ask Zimmerman why he appeared to be following or observing him. There is no indication that Zimmerman "confronted" Martin; Zimmerman was returning to his vehicle and Martin confronted and attacked him.

Martin had been thrown out of school for possession of burglary tools, was going about some business with two of the basic ingredients for the drug concoction called "purple drank" in his possession, and may actually have taken Zimmerman for another burglar impinging on his (Martin's) turf.

The damage sustained by Zimmerman for so vanishingly near zero provocation strongly indicates that lives other than Zimmerman's were likely saved by Zimmerman's cutting this young career criminal's criminal career short at the age of 17.

That turns out not to be altogether true...

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/27/fbi-crime-stats-you-are-more-likely-to-be-killed-by-hands-and-feet-than-by-a-shotgun-or-rifle/



That includes all of the dreaded "Assault Rifles(TM)" which de-moKKKer-rats are always whining and sniveling about.

Selection bias, much?

You do realize that shotguns and rifles don't make up the entire gun category. Or are you willing to make everyone give up all handguns because they aren't really guns?

Here are the actual numbers from the FBI crime report on homicide and weapons used.

Firearms 67.7
Knives or cutting instruments 13.4
Unknown or other dangerous weapons 13.1
Personal weapons (hands, fists,feet, etc.) 5.8
Total 100.0

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-7