To me this is a sad case where nobody wins. Is Zimmerman a murderer? No. Did Martin deserve to die? No. Bad decisions on both sides and a gun lead to a tragedy where a young man is dead and another mans life will be a mess for many many years. Change any decision or No gun and more than likely the most this would have been is an assault charge against a 17 year old kid with no real criminal record and Zimmerman would be free to go on with his life, probably still doing the neighborhood watch. The gun nuts will say that Martin may have beaten him to death, possible, but not likely, because more than likely if Zimmerman didn't have the gun he probably would not have approached Martin in the first place. I don't believe that Zimmerman set out to murder anyone and I believe he acted out of fear for his life but he as an adult put himself in that situation. Should Zimmerman have simply walked? No, somebody died as a result of him interfering with somebody else's rights to be left alone. Martin was not stalking Zimmerman and his reasons for being there were legitimate, Zimmerman was stalking him. Martin, a minor without a fully developed brain but an adult sized body overreacted to Zimmerman's intrusion. If you choose to carry a gun, which the law allows, then you need to be held responsible when you use that weapon. One has to wonder, if Zimmerman did not have the gun would he have been so bold in approaching the large adult sized minor? Or would he have simply called the police and let them handle it and Martin would have then simply went to his friends house and eaten his Skittles? There is no doubt in my mind that Zimmerman was in part responsible for the incident that lead to the death of Martin. Our legal system recognizes the fact that Minors are not mentally equipped to be held completely accountable for the decisions they make, that's why we deny them the right to vote or legally obtain alchohol or tobacco, drive cars or sign legally binding contracts. Both were aggressors and both were victims, but one came out much worse and he was a minor. There has to be some accountability for the death or a minor at the hands of an adult, but it was not murder.
Where we can all agree that no one deserved to die in this case, and there were a lot of bad decisions on the part of Martin and Zimmerman, I think you have misrepresented the testimony given by both State and Defense witnesses in many areas.
It’s only your speculation and not that from a “gun nut” that Martin wouldn’t have beaten Zimmerman to death. It was proven that Martin was on top of Zimmerman punching him MMA style. This beating went on for 40 seconds until Zimmerman shot him in self-defense. There’s not many of us “gun freaks” that are willing to be beaten for 40 seconds hoping the beating will stop within seconds of losing our life. You are welcome to test your ludicrous and unsubstantiated theory, but not me.
The notion that a 17 year old doesn’t have the mental development of an adult is only plausible if you believe that an 18 year old does. On your 18th birthday you don’t, all of a sudden, develop a fully developed adult brain.
For those that don’t believe a displaced or broken nose couldn’t possibly make you fear for your life, let me remind you that just a few months ago a 17 year old soccer player punched a referee in the nose as a response to getting yellow carded. The referee’s nose was pushed back into his brain and death was sudden. It may come as a surprise to many that one of the fastest ways to kill a human is a well-placed, upwards thrust fist to the nose.
You have no evidence what-so-ever that Martin knew Zimmerman had a gun. We know from testimony that Zimmerman didn’t know Martin didn’t have a gun. Do you really think Zimmerman wouldn’t have stopped and ask Martin a question if he knew he had a gun? As a “gun freak” and one who is very knowledgeable of self-defense laws, I always assume everyone I come in contact with has a concealed firearm.
Zimmerman did not “intrude” into Martin’s right to be where he was legally entitled to be. Zimmerman had every right to question Martin as to what he was doing, just as you and I have the right to ask a stranger in our neighborhood what they are doing. If I’m wrong please let me know what law I am breaking.
Zimmerman was not stalking Martin, he may have used his legal right to follow him for a short period of time but that’s not illegal, is it? Asking a question does not start a fight. To the contrary, it was Martin, who broke away and out of sight of Zimmerman for a period of time and who told his girlfriend, who testified that Martin told her he was going back to confront Zimmerman. You may not be aware of this but “duty to retreat” does not cover you if you return to the danger you just retreated from! That, Mr. Owens, was the testimony of the State’s star witness and Martin girlfriend who he called, instead of the police when he felt his life was in jeopardy.
Based on that testimony and the physical evidence it’s wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that it was, in fact, Martin who stalked Zimmerman, started the altercation and died trying to take the life of another.
Martin had every opportunity to simply return to the safety of his home, a mere 75 yards away but elected instead to flee for 4 minutes only to return to the danger.
