George Zimmerman's Argument For The Murder Of Trayvon Martin

How far does self defense go? For the Florida man, George Zimmerman, it went as far as taking a life. Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin causing many to become outraged. Oodles of protest were held, primarily by the African American community, for the issue of racial profiling, gun violence, and the way Zimmerman pursued Martin. Despite the controversy surrounding the case, the evidence shows that Zimmerman is, in fact, innocent.

Zimmerman's actions could be held against him for originally starting the altercation between him and Martin but, the same arguments could be made about how Martin Responded. According to a complete case overview by Famous Trials, Zimmerman called the police at 7:09 pm to report a suspicious

According to Zimmerman, Martin questioned “what the fu*k’s your problem homie” (Linder). After Zimmerman responded that he didn’t have a problem, Martin punched Zimmerman in the face, knocking him to the ground. Martin then started to hit Zimmerman's head against the concrete of a sidewalk (Linder). Zimmerman began to scream for help, getting the attention of a townhouse resident named Jonathan Good. Good reported that he saw a man in a darker hoodie on top of a man in an orange hoodie (Padnani and Griggs). This directly lines up with how Zimmerman described the altercation because he did, in fact, have on an orange hoodie. When Good turned to dial the police he heard a gunshot and saw Zimmerman telling two other men with flashlights and heard Zimmerman say that he had just shot Martin in self defence (Padnani and Griggs). Zimmerman had used deadly force because he was fearing for his life and Martin started to reach for his gun

About a month later the state of Florida prosecuted Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. The case quickly became the spotlight for national media outlets like FOX and CNN (Linder). According to an article in The New York Times, Many experts were brought in, to examine the evidence. One of whom was Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an expert in forensic pathology. Dr. Vincent Di Maio confirmed that by the direction of the bullet through Martins chest, that Martin was on top during the fight (Padnani and Griggs). Dr. Maio also stated that even though Zimmerman had minor cuts to the back of his head, most of the bleeding from the head occurs inside the skull (Padnani and Griggs). In the closing arguments, Bernie de la Rionda, the lead prosecutor, claimed that Zimmerman had profiled Martin, leading a confrontation that ultimately lead to Martin's death (Padnani and