Do you understand why I raised the specific questions that I did? Look at where Zimmerman says the fight took place and ended, and then look at where Trayvon Martin was killed at, and in particular the proximity to the cement he was supposedly bashing Zimmerman's head on. Pretty glaring errors in Zimmerman's taped testimony, right?
Zimmerman's video statement appears in contradiction to the facts, and it seems to go directly to Zimmerman's credibility, as the only surviving eyewitness (and one with a heavy vested interest to lie in order to keep himself from a life sentence if convicted). Zimmerman was either wrong or lying. It truly was a good thing for Zimmerman that he didn't try to testify (I doubt that he was ever going to).
BTW, I thought it was pretty odd that Zimmerman says Trayvon Martin called him "Homie" (I thought that term was generally reserved for friends), and then Zimmerman is the only person that heard Trayvon Martin supposedly scream "You're gonna die tonight!", right before Zimmerman shot Martin.
Did anyone hear that "scream" before the gunshot on the 911 audios (or at anytime)?
What a convenient thing for a person to say that has just lethally shot someone in the chest.
Or maybe Zimmerman is the one that said "You're gonna die tonight" to Martin, and therefore included it in his statement, in case anyone else overheard him, so he could claim it was Martin rather than himself that yelled. And when Martin punched Zimmerman in self-defense, Zimmerman fatally shot Martin.
More likely though, Zimmerman knew that such a statement (even if false) would bolster his claim of self-defense for killing the unarmed Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman had been aggressively pursuing for several minutes (and remember Zimmerman was not on Neighborhood Watch duty that night).
As for Zimmerman's injuries, I can see where he clearly took a fist in the nose, and I'm guessing that he smacked his head on the pavement when he hit the ground, causing the two small cuts to the back of GZ's head (which required no stitches).
I'm not seeing a repeated violent smashing of a skull on pavement, and where Trayvon Martin's body lay dead, there is no pavement for several feet.
From my minimal review of the case, I would say a 2nd Degree conviction is unlikely, however Manslaughter in this case seems a very real possibility, then again, it could go either way.
If Zimmerman walks, he walks, although I imagine that a Civil lawsuit is coming up no matter what the Jury decides in the current Criminal case. I doubt that Zimmerman will fair well in a civil trial.
It's also pretty likely that the losing side will appeal, whomever that is.
Either way, to me it was an avoidable situation turned fatal, and Trayvon Martin is still dead.
I don't believe that the Jurors will be swayed much by pubic opinion in making their decision. I presume you know that they have been sequestered since the trial began.
ADG