[Vision2020] Martin/Zimmerman Rorschach test

[Scott Dredge]

This about as far down as I can distill the tragic sequence of events that led to the death of Trayvon Martin:
1. Trayvon Martin is walking to the townhome in a gated community where he is staying
2. George Zimmerman is driving in the same gated community
3. Zimmerman sees and follows Martin and calls a non-emergency police number at 7:09:34pm to report a suspicious person
4. Martin already on a phone call with a friend, tells her that someone is following him, this call is disconnected at ~7:12pm
5. Zimmerman's recorded phone call to police ends at 7:13:40 pm after a ~4 minute discussion / he has exited his vehicle
6. Martin & Zimmerman become engaged in an altercation
7. A 911 call reporting a disturbance is recorded starting at 7:16:11 pm
[At this point Martin is alive and the altercation between Martin & Zimmerman is in progress]
8. A gunshot is recorded on the 911 call at 7:16:55pm (~44 seconds after the start of the call logging)
9. Police arrive at the scene at approximately 7:17pm
11. Zimmerman tells police he shot Martin
10. Police disarm and handcuff Zimmerman
12. Martin is pronounced dead at approximately 7:30pm
13. Police photograph Zimmerman while he is in the back of a police car - he has a bleeding & swollen nose
14. Police photograph Zimmerman at the police station - the back of his head is bleeding

Absent any other facts, I don't see any possibility of a 2nd degree murder conviction against Zimmerman.
I don't know enough about manslaughter to comment on the possibility of conviction for this charge.
I think Zimmerman deserves some type of punishment.  Where things stand now, I don't expect any convictions on civil rights violations.  I do expect Zimmerman either be found liable in civil court or agree to an out of court settlement.

-Scott

 		 	   		  
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