It's Watch!... Neighborhood Watch. Not shoot.

You're right, it should be manslaughter, but it shouldn't be nothing.
Maybe what the operator said wasn't an order, but I seriously doubt Martin would have attacked Zimmerman had he stayed in the car.

 

To me, the person who has "self-defense" on his side is dead. I kind of think lawyers on both sides figure since this is a "big" trial they have to drag it out as much as possible, and that is where mistakes happen.
Better for the prosecution to just show that the kid was walking around, unarmed when he was accosted by Zimmerman. The kid was shot. And then you sit down.
Let Zimmerman's team explain his actions.

 

Problem is we don't know what would have happened. We'll never know what happened. All we know is what happened. He was doing his nightly neighborhood watch and saw a suspicious figure matching the description of person or persons that had been breaking into homes in that area.

He called 911 and kept an eye on Trayvon Martin as he talked to the dispatcher. At one point, the dispatcher even says "Let me know if he does anything OK" and again repeats it, saying "Yeah, we've got somebody on the way, just let me know if this guy does anything else."

When the dispatcher asks if he's following Martin, he answers yes and the dispatcher says "OK, we don't need you to do that." Zimmerman responds "OK" and according to the police report and his four interrogation videos, he started walking back to his car.

That's when he was allegedly attacked by Martin. That's when he allegedly feared for his life and fired his weapon.

His story, told repeatedly to different officers on different days (even once with a lie detector that won't be admitted into court) and his story never changed.

 

Feared for his life? Please.
His injuries were minor. None of his DNA was on Martin's hands.

 

Zimmerman claimed he was on his way the grocery store when he spotted Martin. The cops had arrested the person who'd been breaking into homes in the subdivision.

 

I agree with that. The prosecution got a little overzealous, and I have no doubt it was because of the attention of the case.

There's a very similar case playing out in Louisiana that nobody will ever read about because it was a white man shooting a white teenager snooping around on his property late at night.

This case drew national attention because it was a white man (Hispanic, but they all look alike right?) shooting an unarmed black teen.

Zimmerman will end up paying a boatload of money to the Martin family, but the prosecution screwed up the criminal part of the case.

 

Regardless, nobody should be able to shoot and kill somebody, then claim self-defense, no questions asked.
That's what's wrong about the "stand your ground" law.

 

But he's not getting off...no questions asked. They're asking a lot of questions. He's being tried for murder. It's not like he shot the kid and went on with his life.

I realize there's a very emotional aspect of this case, and I get that.

 

I think if he gets off in the courts, street justice would hold it's own trial.

 

Yeah, and that will solve all the problems.

Is there street justice in Chicago? More black teens are killed in Chicago in one day than have died in Sanford, Florida in the last five years.

Come on, man.

 

Do I need any? If the Houston Astros beat a 9-year-old machine pitch team of Little Leaguers, it doesn't mean the Astros were any good.