Car in his possession, could be a deadly weapon and faster than anyone on foot.

Weighed twice as much and able to overpower the younger man.

Had a gun, the great equalizer and still got out of his vehicle to confront when it was not necessary.

Knew he did not have legal authority to do any of what he did according the rules of the Neighborhood Watch.

Who got bruised, or the end result, does not eradicate the beginning here. He provoked this and kept on going. His only defense would be insanity or some form of mental incapacity.

But he was deemed sane and of sound mind enough to have a driver's license, operate a vehicle, go to school and carry a deadly weapon on his person. No excuse for this.

of the body of Trayvon?

From what his girlfriend said regarding the phone call, they were talking then he was cut off and she assumed someone had knocked his phone, or headphones off his head. At that time he was telling her he was not going to run but was walking fast. So if that is true, it sounds like he was hit, pushed or shoved first. By someone who was told not to follow him.

Blog taking the image and rejoicing over his death as deserved and wishing to see much more killing.

But as far as injuries, the fact remains:

Zimmerman was in a position of safety and abandoned it. He knew he had no legal right to do what he did, what he had just been told not to do.

He chose to indulge himself by behaving aggressively. It is a luxury Martin didn't possess. Martin was not in a position of power or safety. He tried to get away.

This is how this started. The gory and chaotic end to this young man's life is not in question, and is not the issue. This is a deflection off the wrongful actions of Zimmerman to begin with.

It is excusing out of control, irresponsible behavior by someone who had power. We are emotional beings, subject to strong passions that can get us in trouble.

But such over reaction as Zimmerman permitted himself is not an excuse until one is adjudicated to be incompetent, and that is not allowed very often.

When we see these allegations of injury, Zimmerman is being excused for fears out of proportion based on his fear of blacks, or rage about something that he could prove having happened.

There are many situations in life that we encounter, and our judgment determines our fate. Martin tried to get away from an large, unknown, aggressive man.

He tried to defend his right to life or to continue to live. That was not the case with Zimmerman. He provoked this. He owns everything that follows his initial, wrongful and reckless actions.

standard procedure in the investigation. Both of them should have been photographed. This is done so that exactly what is happening doesn't happen. We don't know whether Zimmerman beat Trayvon or not, and if no photos are available we will never know and those who want to defend Zimmerman, including his lawyers, will insist that Trayvon was the aggressor.

When the police do not follow standard procedures we should know that also. It is very important that they do so and once charges are made, every piece of evidence available, including any injuries other than the gunshot, to the victim are extremely important.

We can say Zimmerman owns everything. And that is my opinion also. But in a court that won't hold up, his lawyers will be fighting vigorously to make Trayvon the threat that caused the shooting. Which is why it is necessary to know if Trayvon had injuries, even scratches. If he did, and it seems likely if they were fighting, that will make the defense's claims more difficult to believe.

He's half the other guy's size and was being chased!

I'm assuming this is Zimmerman's first kill, so in retrospect ...he CYA'ed his claim. A professional coroner could tell if Tayvon rendered the wounds.

where the woman had a direct line of sight to the scene she said "20 feet" in front of her window.

She was hysterical. Said they were "wrestling on the ground", that one was screaming for help and she heard the gunshot. Then she went on forever about the police arriving, a man standing over the dead boy with a flashlight, she kept saying "Why would he shoot him, why would he do that?"

It was chilling and very hard to listen to. I've been trying to find it this morning to post the link but I can't find it again.

the 911 tapes.. the one to listen to is the one that is 14 mins long.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/what-happened-trayvon-martin-explained

She couldn't believe 'someone would do that' , meaning kill another human being.

The police arrived 60 seconds after the shooting. One more minute and they might have been able to stop it. They were already on their way because of Zimmerman's initial call. I guess she saw the first police officer to arrive as she described seeing flashlights.

An excerpted police report is all that I have seen posted so far by the city. There have been police pictures of Zimmerman posted, unclear as to the source and time frame.

While I support no duty to retreat (legally, not always tactically), this is not a SYG issue. The governing laws are the requirements for the use of deadly force in FL (and other states), that there was a reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury. Zimmerman could not have that and should be in jail

1) In his phone call to the police, Zimmerman says a bit about his location.
2) Zimmerman describes Trayvon in some detail (not too much), but enough to know what Zimmerman saw.
3) During Zimmerman's call to the police, he says that Trayvon is running and also that he (Zimmerman) doesn't want another one to get away.
4) The police officer suggests that Zimmerman should not follow Trayvon and reassures Zimmerman that the police are coming.
5) Several witnesses living within feet of the location where Zimmerman shot Trayvon gave their addresses to the police.

My conclusion:

It should be easy to find out how far Zimmerman chased Trayvon and determine that Zimmerman was the aggressor choosing to stop and apprehend Trayvon before the police arrived.

It is tragic for all concerned. Zimmerman should not have been carrying a gun. He clearly did not have the judgment to handle that responsibility. I wonder whether the law that Florida recently passed is much too vague about the burden of proof in case of a claim of self-defense. This could result in unequal protection before the law because the law may not give the court clear enough guidance on assessing a claim of self-defense especially if it is a new law.

Are we reverting to the justice of the caveman which insures that the person with the biggest stick is always in the right?

Mr. taking the law into your own hands was told not to pursue him.

How can they determine that Zimmerman is in the clear because it was self defense? I would expect in ANY shooting that the police would want to secure the scene and gather evidence.

I think some heads are going to roll at the police department.

The addresses of the location where Zimmerman was and the location where the murder occurred are pretty important.

I'm not buying it-

He gets No excuses, he gets No "outs"-zimmerman murdered this young man in the eyes of the public.

I don't see how this can be a SYG case. But it seems the cops want to start the SYG law at the time they say Trayvon attacked Zimmerman when he was returning to his truck, which was Zimmerman's statement to the cops.

Why would a skinny kid who was on his way home to finish watching a game, decide to attack some burly dude on his way to his truck? Motive?

The statement is illogical. It makes no sense.

I'll see what new evidence comes out, but those are two entirely different stories. Considering how the police botched this case so much, I have a hard time believing them at this point.

And that in itself has racism written all over it.

Do they have any pictures or proof that Zimmerman had injuries that needed to be treated? I mean something.

So I don't get the significance even if true, of Zimmerman being punched. The law allows people to defend themselves.

why weren't pictures taken? (if they weren't)

Even if they got into a tussle, and it seems like they did, that couldn't justify killing the kid, unless the gun went off accidentally.

Seems like Zimmerman started following the kid, the kid notices (the 911 call, Zimmerman tells the cop that the kid is looking at him), and then the kid approaches Zimmerman (according to Zimmerman, in the same 911 call..."he's walking towards me&quot , and according to the kid's girlfriend who was on the phone with him (she said he told her someone was following him, then she heard him say "why are you following me?&quot . I can't imagine how a fight would start. Would the kid really have gone to hit that big man? Would the man just have up and hit the kid, not even knowing if the kid has a gun? I don't know. But maybe so.

But maybe pictures were taken. Pics should've been taken of both the scene, the boy, and the shooter. Shameful, if that didn't happen.

after the two exchanged words, Z pushed Trayvon or something, because his headset fell off, so if a physical altercation occurred, Z started that, too.

so he either pulled the trigger with the intention of shooting Martin ...OR ... he had pulled his weapon to intimidate Martin. Drawing your weapon to gain leverage in an argument is illegal in Florida.

looking at and following Martin. Zimmerman says in the 911 call that the kid is holding something; it's possible he thought Martin had a gun (but we know now it was a soft drink).

That doesn't let Zimmerman off the hook in any way. He clearly was the aggressor in following someone while packing a gun. WTF? Who does that? But it's possible that it wasn't 1st degree murder, as such, and was like a 2nd degree murder or something like that. I haven't seen anything to indicate that Zimmerman was out to kill the kid, which is what 1st degree murder is, I think. He wouldn't have called 911, if that were the case.

What a mess. This incident has hurt race relations, too. All caused by Zimmerman. Poor Trayvon. Wrong place, wrong time. Tragic. The loss of a valuable life, someone who was making the world a better place.

down the street where I had every right to be, I'd be afraid. If I ran from the person, and the person exited their vehicle to chase after me, I'd be in fear of being kidnapped, raped or robbed.

Would I punch that person pursuing me in the face if they persisted to the degree Zimmerman pursued this young man? Hell yes I would, because I would assume that I was fighting for my safety and my life.

Zimmerman doesn't have a leg to stand on. The second he exited his vehicle, he became the attacker.

If Trayvon Martin had done the exact same thing to Zimmerman (or anyone else) at the mall parking lot, there would have been a similar result. He could say Zimmerman looked like the type that stole car audio systems and he was just "standing his ground", but the difference is that Martin would be charged with menacing and eventually murder.

It seems like the owner of a gun is the law in Florida, but only for some.

...he was entirely justified in doing so, under the Stand Your Ground law.

He was likely in a trapped situation considering that Z was tracking him.

.. is a mug shot from his previous brush with the law.

And I agree, Martin would have been perfectly within his rights to slug Zimmerman under SYG if Zimmerman laid hands on him.

the police would have taken that photo and it would be plastered all over the media. Not only to protect Zimmerman, but themselves as well. This is bullshit

He tried to exit the situation - the statement from his girlfriend made that very clear - he was alarmed about this creepy guy stalking after him, and tried to leave, but didn't quite get out of dodge fast enough.

Trayvon's the one who could have claimed self defense. Zim was clearly provoking the confrontation, so assuming Trayvon did throw a punch, he was well within his rights to throw punches - a crazy guy with a gun was threatening and assaulting him!

But i cant verify anything.

That would not mean much.

The question is, who attacked whom? Zimmerman practically confessed when he said that Trayvon was running. The police told Zimmerman to stay where he was or call them and Zimmerman pursued -- trying to be important.

Zimmerman has a mental problem, but it isn't the kind that permits an insanity defense. I suspect that Zimmerman had grandiose ideas, a great wish to be a hero -- which he wasn't and isn't and will never be. Zimmerman doesn't have the humility, love and respect for others required to be a hero.

Any confirmation that he struck blows?

Probably not. When there's no evidence, one can make up whatever story they want.

But the real point is, Zimmerman took it upon himself to create a situation. All he had to do was sit in the car and call the police. Any beating he took (which I doubt) was wholly deserved for stalking Martin.

What has not been made public is the FD report of those who treated him, photos, etc.

Somehow I don't think they were adequate justification under Florida law for what Zimmerman did.

police protocol was not followed.

From what this witness says, it sounds like Zimmerman probably caught up with Martin and a fight broke out. Martin somehow got the best of Zimmerman who then chased him and confronted him with a gun in front of this lady's house. Most likely Martin started screaming for help because he had a gun on him and then Zimmerman fired and killed Martin in cold blood. Evidently another witness said the same thing as this lady: