One of the last photographs of Trayvon Martin

[MRH]

No matter the outcome I hope justice is served. If Z is truly guilty of murder he should go to prison. If he is not, he should go free. I do not know enough about the case, but I feel certain this case has been eaten up by the media because of the color barrier they love to build up.

As far as the riots go, I personally think it is time to put a stop to this nonsense. Will white people riot if Z is found guilty? No. If he is guilty he is guilty. If he really was acting in self defense and is found not guilty the blacks will riot anyway. If they do it will only go to show that they do not care for justice. They only care about blacks being able to get away with anything, including violent crime on white people. The double standard makes me sick. Personally I hope that the truth is found here and justice is served. If this kid was killed for any reason other than self defense then I hope Z goes away.

 

[strider12]

The sensationalizing by the media is disgusting and has slanted public opinion. However, a quick look at the facts do elicit some questions that must be answered.

The facts:

• Trayvon Martin got in trouble at school in Miami and was suspended for 10 days.
• His dad made him go to Sanford with him for the week so that he would not sit around the house enjoying his suspension.
• Martin was at the house while his dad and the fiance went out for dinner.
• He called his dad and asked if he could please walk up to the store to get some snacks because he was going stir crazy in the house. (my words)
• It was extremely dark and was lightly raining.
• Martin walked up to the store.
• Martin was walking back to the house with snacks.
• Martin was wearing a hoodie in the rain.
• Zimmerman was leaving to go to the store to get his lunch for work the next day.
• He saw Martin and called 911
• Zimmerman followed Martin
• Zimmerman lost Martin
• Zimmerman went looking for him.
• Zimmerman's flashlight wasn't working
• Zimmerman suddenly came upon Martin
• A fight ensued
• Zimmerman got his butt handed to him
• Zimmerman shot Martin.

In my opinion, the entire case rests on a few variables:

• The nature of the fight / who attacked who
• Can you resort to deadly force if you are in a fight and begin losing?
  • If yes, does it matter if you started the fight?

If you step back and look at it from Martin's side. What would you have done in the same situation? I can only say that, at 17, I would have jumped on someone following me and chasing me in the dark. I would have done my best to whoop their butt as well.

This is a tough one and, while Martin wasn't an angel, at this point I think Zimmerman screwed up bad and deserves to go to jail for manslaughter. I may change that as the evidence unfolds though.

Pretty much.

But I wish you would have used a lot more emotion. Facts are so boring.

 

[exaquaman]

GZ is the only witness to the actual incident. Only one witness actually saw a portion of the altercation and he put TM on top of GZ in two drawings. All of the others heard "something" and several of them have changed their testimony.

ALL of the physical evidence supports GZ's account of the event. He made his initial statements less than 10 minutes after shooting TM to the first detective on scene and through at least three more "interviews", his story didn't change at all. Either George is a pathological liar (not likely), or his story is the truth and what actually happened.

If you listen to his initial call to the police, he even states that he lost TM and was reluctant to give his address out in fear TM would be able to determine where George lived. George stopped walking almost immediately after the operator said "We don't need you to do that", in which GZ replied "Ok" and you could hear the wind noise die down and Georges voice become steady again.

I absolutely believe George was ambushed and sucker punched by TM and TM continued beating on GZ until he was shot. So far, the prosecution hasn't offered any evidence to the contrary.

Lol, man you're crazy as hell! This man was told not to give chase, and he did. He got his a$$ whooped, and played the punk card (He pulled his gun and shot an unarmed man). Here is the transcript. It is in black and white.
http://phoebe53.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/zimmerman-911-call-transcript-trayvon-martin/

Here is the actual recording where you can hear GZ get out of his car or truck and give chase!
http://youtu.be/fNCvr9V2pig

 

[MRH]

Colonel Jeff Cooper was a huge advocate of avoiding situations in which you place yourself in danger of a confrontation. That's exactly what GZ did. TM was potentially up to no good, and GZ went looking for trouble. This didn't need to end in loss of life, it should never have gotten that far.

Agreed. If GZ did indeed go out looking for him then he was stupid. People walk by my house at night fairly often but I do not go out following them. They are walking down the road. None of my business what they are up to. We'll see what happens and what evidence comes out, but yeah if this is the case then Zimmerman was in the wrong.

 

[Hasselhoss]

This is most definitely a case where "Don't do anything or go anywhere while carrying a gun that you wouldn't if you were unarmed" applies.

 

[SuperMario92]

Zimmerman will be found guilty or the black folk will riot in the skreets

The NAACP is already handing out pitchforks and Torches.

 

[Gunfighter]

Agreed. Anyone remember the OJ trial ?

You mean Rodney King trial.

 

[Cartman]

I agree with Hasselhoss, when I was 17 if there was someone following me at night its either fight or flight. I would have done my best to kick his ass also. GZ was getting his ass beat because he could not stay in his car. And did the only thing he could do to get TM off of him. GZ should have just taken the ass beating.

 

[Rolling_trip]

I will say that I am curious as to the facts that will be presented on both sides.
But I don't see how this is anyway a "Stand Your Ground" defense.

So if your sucker punched, westled to the ground, mounted, and your head is being bounced off the pavement what do you do? wait for the white light to head towards? I know this will have to be proven wrong, and could be by the DA, but what else can you go on at the moment? No one knows exactly what happened except for 2 people, and last time I checked, one is in the ground.

This is not a bad read on 2nd Degree Murder
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/second-degree-murder-overview.html

 

[Retread]

Should o' gone fishin' instead o' huntin'. I think he took it too far and got in a situation.

But guilty or innocent, remember The Rodney King riots? I bet the jury has it in the back of their minds.