Wow. some of the comments here.
I believe the lesson from all of this, if there is any, is that if someone is following you it is wise not to turn around and attack them because they might have a gun... Wouldn't it be so much simpler to call the cops and tell them someone's following you? Had Martin done this the PD would have linked this up and told both men to stand down and wait for their arrival...
Zimmerman called the cops and they told him to stand down. He didn't listen and pursued anyway.
There are a lot of ifs and buts in the case but for you to try to turn it around into "simple police involvement" and pretend no police contact was made, directions given by the police and they were ignored is dealing in fantasy
With all due respect, did you even watch the trial? Or listen to the 911 call?
1. The 911 Dispatcher did not give him an order. He said, "we don't NEED you to do that" and not "Please do NOT follow him." 911 Dispatchers are required to tell people that in EVERY situation. If you ask a 911 dispatcher if it's alright to shoot a home invader they won't tell you yes or no. IF you are asking a dispatcher if it's ok to save someone from a burning building they'll tell you that they don't need to you to that in order to take liability off themselves.
2. According to Zimmerman's statements, corroborated by his own 911 call, he only "chased" Martin for a few seconds before the 911 dispatcher made his comment about not needing him to follow and Zimmerman replied "Ok." What prompted the dispatcher to ask this question was because he heard Zimmerman's heavy breathing in the phone. After Zimmerman said, "ok" his breathing returned to normal indicating that he'd stopped running after Zimmerman.
3. Now here's a physics lesson, or perhaps a mathematical one. According to Zimmerman's statements he was returning to his vehicle when Martin attacked him, implying that Martin must have turned around and returned in order to confront Zimmerman. (I think this is actually what happened seeing has how the only evidence of initial verbal contact was when Martin asked "What are you following me for?" while Jeantel was on the phone with him.
NOW, Let's hypothetically say that Zimmerman continued following Martin at a walking pace. You have a 17 year old black boy running in the other direction being followed by an overweight hispanic guy at a walking pace. How did they end up running back in to one another? Either way Martin would have HAD to have turned around and came back to confront Zimmerman. He was only 300+ feet from his house and had plenty of time to get there...
4. There's no doubt that, in the space time continuum, the actions of Zimmerman ultimately led to Martin's death. But we could say that about ANYTHING! We could say that Martin's poor behavior, leading to him being kicked out of school, put him in that neighborhood that day. The "domino" theory can be used to explain EVERYTHING that happens. If only somone had set their alarm 5 minutes earlier like a responsible working American, they wouldn't have gotten in that car accident that killed someone. The problem is that the domino theory is not "law."
Nothing that Zimmerman did that day, leading up to the shooting ,was illegal. Nothing Martin did, leading up to the confrontation, was illegal. Hell, Martin could have stood there and called Zimmerman a racist profiling ***** and nothing illegal would have been done. The first crime that was committed was when Martin decided to punch Zimmerman. That would have ended up being a misdemeanor charge. But when he decided to keep pummeling his head into the concrete, it would have escalated the charge to Assault and Battery; a felony. Then, according to Zimmerman, Martin saw Zimmerman's gun on his hip and said "You're going to die tonight ************." This statement right there ups the charge to Attempted Murder.
It seems that most of the people disagreeing with this verdict simply don't understand self-defense laws and, honestly, haven't watched but a fraction of the trial, if at all. Most of the people rioting and protesting are just sheep being corralled by the race baiting of the media. A media that presented Martin as a 12 year old boy while they flashed Zimmerman's booking photos. A media that deliberately edited Zimmerman's 911 call to make him sound racist even though the ONLY time Zimmerman mentioned Martin's race was when the dispatcher asked for one and gave him options...A media that continuously injects white vs black racism into the issue when Zimmerman is obviously more hispanic than he is white.
I'm not accusing you of this because I don't know how much of the trial you watched. I watched almost every bit of it. I sat here at work with it live streaming on the computer. I watched it at home. I probably missed a few hours of it here and there. Also, being a CHL holder myself I was originally under the impression that Zimmerman was guilty; based on the reports by the media of course. However, after watching the trial, seeing the evidence, listening to witnesses, etc... I changed my mind.