The state of FL v. Zimmerman was/is a national Rorschach Test. Like the Mirror of Erised from the Harry Potter series, everyone seems to see what they want to see when they look into it.
What I see is a flawed investigation into a fatal shooting. The dead is an unarmed Black young man. The shooter is an armed Hispanic man, supposedly on Neighborhood Watch rounds, except that he's armed, he's following the subject he'd called in to the police, & he confronts the subject.
The sheriff was eventually released from his job. The sheriff apparently missed the potential interest in the case, he didn't collect all the forensic evidence immediately, he didn't protect the crime scene (for investigative purposes, you assume it's a crime scene), he didn't do blood draws on subject & shooter (for alcohol &/or drugs) immediately, @ the point that the forensic technicians bagged Martin's hoodie, they put it into plastic & fungus ruined the evidence. I blame the sheriff for this case dragging out - better tradecraft & case work & we might have had a definitive answer as to whether the shooting was justified. In the actual case, Zimmerman was interviewed & released.
As it is, the state couldn't make the case that the shooting was unjustified. & so Zimmerman is not guilty, as the court requires in these cases.
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If people dont get the facts right, they cannot get the case right.
Zimmerman was not on neighborhood watch. He was going out to the store. He did not follow Martin. He got out of the truck to see where he had gone because he had lost sight of him. Zimmerman did not confront Martin. Martin confronted Zimmerman and then punched him.
There was no sheriff. The chief of police was relieved of duty because of pressure from Washington over the case. The police on duty that night understood it was a good shoot, as did the district attorney. This is why they lethim go that night.
Once the facts are clarified the case becomes simple.