# Martin/Zimmerman: humble opinions and speculation thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 18, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125 "2012-04-18T04:41:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 19

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/361 "2012-04-21T20:16:21Z")

</div>

> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> See [here](http://www.nursingceu.com/courses/333/index_ems.html) for what is indicated for persons who have experienced head trauma.

What part of this page do you think supports your argument?

> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> I can’t help you if you need a cite to support that head trauma conducive for a concussion plus a broken nose warrants hospital attention.

It isn’t true. The injuries Zimmerman had aren’t consistent with those necessitating emergency transport to a hospital.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/362 "2012-04-21T20:16:51Z")

</div>

> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> And then later on we have this:
> 
> Gilbreath: We have Mr. Zimmerman’s statements, we have the shell casings and we had Mr.Martins body.
> 
> **Shell Casings**? Plural? That is the first I’ve heard of multiple casings or shots.

Nothing in the news about this, so I assume it was a mistake. Either one hell of a typo or a serious mis-statement by Gilbreath.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/363 "2012-04-21T20:25:14Z")

</div>

> [@treis](#):
>
> I’d hope the prosecution would have a much clearer and much more significant contradiction than this. “About like his late teens” and “About my age (26)” aren’t that different.

It’s about ten years different. Zimmerman is 28.

I would question Zimmerman’s intelligence if he thought 28 is anywhere close to “late teens”.

But I don’t see your point. Zimmerman actually nailed Martin’s age correctly (late teens). When he was apologizing, he said he thought the kid was older (just a little younger than me). Which seems to imply that had he known the “truth”, his actions would have been different. But he actually did know the “truth”. It was a strange thing to say.

It’s not a hangable offense, but it’s because of stupid crap like this that Zimmerman should haven’t have said anything to Martin’s family, at least with a slew of reporters and cameras trained on him.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/364 "2012-04-21T20:26:11Z")

</div>

> [@Airbeck](#):
>
> So are you saying that the fact that he constantly contradicted himself, and that there is evidence that contradicts things in his statement makes it more likely that he’s telling the truth?
> 
> So does that mean that if he never changed his statement and everything in evidence matched his statement that that would mean he was more likely lying?
> 
> I really don’t see how the logic works here.

It is very simple. Human memory is very fallible. We like to pretend that our brains are like computers, but they aren’t. We are very fallible analog devices where our memories are constantly edited and rewritten until the original memory is lost. Actual events get mixed in with fantasy and dreams. Multiple events are are mixed and matched until any resemblance with reality. Here is a recent article on the topic.

[http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/how-friends-ruin-memory-the-social-conformity-effect/](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/how-friends-ruin-memory-the-social-conformity-effect/)

Here is articles specifically on legal implications:

[http://koehlerlaw.net/2010/09/on-human-memory-and-eyewitness-testimony/](http://koehlerlaw.net/2010/09/on-human-memory-and-eyewitness-testimony/)

[http://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2011/08/31/your\_lying\_eyes\_how\_fallible\_memories\_send\_innocent\_people\_to\_prison/page/full/](http://townhall.com/columnists/jacobsullum/2011/08/31/your_lying_eyes_how_fallible_memories_send_innocent_people_to_prison/page/full/)

I did a google search on “fallibility of human memory” and got 464,000 hits.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/365 "2012-04-21T20:30:22Z")

</div>

> [@JoelUpchurch](#):
>
> Actually it sounds exactly like someone who believes he did nothing wrong and frankly not a very bright example. A prudent innocent person would have clammed up called for a lawyer.

I agree with the first sentence, but not the second. A prudent person would have clammed up and called for a lawyer whether he was innocent or not.

That having been said, yes, Zimmerman is acting exactly like I expect a not-very-savvy innocent person to act. He repeated his story to the cops several times over a period of hours, and even went back to the scene and re-enacted it.

He thinks he is legally innocent. And as far as can be determined to date (not very far) he is telling the story exactly as he did from the very beginning, because that’s how he remembers it happening, and I doubt he has had enough time to come up with a version that fits better than the truth, as he remembers it.

Whether or not he is actually, factually innocent, or at least not guilty in a court of law, remains to be determined. But apparently Zimmerman thinks he really was defending himself.

Regards,  
Shodan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/366 "2012-04-21T20:34:24Z")

</div>

> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> You need a cite that a broken nose and head trauma are serious injuries that are best treated and evaluated under a physician’s care, at a hospital, rather than the back of a police car?

You have to understand the thought process. If you dont cite, he didnt see the info, and therefor, it doesnt exist. Thus, he can stay ignorant and cling to a preconceived conclusion. This is called, implausible denial.

The other tool is to simply dismiss a source cause you dont like it. It is part of the same tool.

But, just for the sake of discussion.

Multiple blunt impacts to the occipital region of the skull can cause subdural hematoma. This can cause blood to pool in the basal area of the cranium, causing undue pressure on the brain stem, herniating it through the Foramen Magnum. This will cause the patient to predispose with clonic/tonic spasm, irregular breathing and a discoloration behind the ear prior to death

But hey, I didnt cite my source, so it isnt true

Forgive my latin, its been 30 years

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/367 "2012-04-21T20:36:13Z")

</div>

Every innocent person accused of a crime needs to lawyer up right away.

Assume you are factually innocent, and you agree to a series of 3-4 separate interviews with the police about the incident in which the crime you are accused of occurred. Now assume you’re human, and thus you do not have eidetic memory. The way that you tell the story will vary a little bit with each retelling, not only because specific word usage will change, but also because your memory is going to be recalled a little bit differently. Sure, you probably won’t have different recollections about material parts of the incident, but as a lay person you may not realize it but parts of the incident that seemed unimportant at the time (and thus aren’t prominent in your recollections) may be extremely important legally. Since they didn’t seem important to you, it’s possible they won’t stick out much in your mind, so the way you portray them over 3-4 separate statements could be different, and this difference could be a sign to the investigators that you are guilty.

Assuming the police as good actors, it’s still possible that if because of unique circumstances they had cause to believe you committed a crime that you did not, and then you tell a story 3-4 times in which an important (to the police, not to you) detail gets changed a little bit with each telling and all of a sudden you may have a team of police 100% convinced you are guilty. That’s a bad situation to be in for an innocent person.

That is why guilty or innocent you need to have a lawyer present for any interactions you have with police in which you are a suspect in an crime. Zimmerman has done himself virtually no favors in the first 50 some days of this thing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaHarder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@DaHarder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaHarder)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/368 "2012-04-21T20:38:11Z")

</div>

> [@Steophan](#):
>
> Your question, as far as I can tell, is irrelevant to anything, so I’m not going to answer it.

Actually… The ‘_question_’ is quite relevant, as this the FACT that had **Zimmerman** not ‘profiled’ and pursued **Martin** neither the confrontation, nor the deadly shooting would ever have occurred.

Your reason for ‘not answering’ the question at hand is that You Have No Viable Answer… End Of Story.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/369 "2012-04-21T20:41:13Z")

</div>

> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> Again, why would they need to do this if they didn’t believe he was seriously injured at the time he was interviewed?

What the police believe doesn’t matter. What can be proved in court is what matters. The police are supposed to gather **all the evidence**. This evidence goes through discovery and if the prosecution withholds any exculpatory evidence from the defense they can get in serious trouble.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaHarder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@DaHarder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaHarder)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/370 "2012-04-21T20:42:41Z")

</div>

> [@Stoid](#):
>
> I know that there is a lot of solid evidence for the portrayal of George Zimmerman as Ricky Rescue, can you share the copious matching evidence for Martin as a wannabe thug?

I’ve been following this story since the day it broke, and I’d reason that said ‘_evidence_’ (read: [U ignorance) is based solely upon the fact that **Martin** was a young black male wearing a hoodie while walking at night, and very little else.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaHarder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@DaHarder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaHarder)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/371 "2012-04-21T20:55:46Z")

</div>

> [@JoelUpchurch](#):
>
> I think it is possible he was looking for a house number. Looking for a street sign would be silly.

Which begs to question: If **Zimmerman** was this (self-appointed) ‘high-ranking’ Neighborhood Watch Captain, wouldn’t he have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of his own ‘patrol area’ ?

Nothing about the **Zimmerman** defense claims make any sense whatsoever.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/372 "2012-04-21T20:57:00Z")

</div>

> [@JoelUpchurch](#):
>
> What the police believe doesn’t matter. What can be proved in court is what matters. The police are supposed to gather **all the evidence**. This evidence goes through discovery and if the prosecution withholds any exculpatory evidence from the defense they can get in serious trouble.

Of course, but this has nothing to do with discovery. Y’all are ragging on the prosecution essentially for not looking for medical evidence that contradicts it’s own medical evidence, and to me that ridiculous.

Just because the prosecution heard allegations that Zimmerman had medical proof showing his nose had been broken doesnt mean they were they obligated to dig up this proof with a court order. I don’t expect them to jump through any hoops just because Zimmerman makes a self-serving claim. The defense is more than free to offer this evidence up at trial, and the state is more than free to attack it with its own. Thats it. Discovery just means both sides have to share with each other their evidence.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/373 "2012-04-21T21:01:56Z")

</div>

> [@treis](#):
>
> What part of this page do you think supports your argument?  
> .

I am typing on a iPad and can’t copy and paste from that article. If you’re truly interested in educating yourself, you’ll read about how such patients are evaluated and treated.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/374 "2012-04-21T21:02:01Z")

</div>

> [@Bricker](#):
>
> It wouldn’t have to be a slam dunk, just something that a jury could credit that would show Zimerman materially lied about the events that kicked off the fight or the fight itself.

> [@](#):
>
> Or craft your own and I’ll answer it. Be as specific as you can about who does what – like you were writing stage directions.

I’ve done it repeatedly when I have asked this.

Night. Man in truck, watching woman, she notes. Creeps her out. Man follows woman, watching her. She is more freaked. Decides to walk faster. Man in truck no longer visible, she relaxes and answers the phone and talks to her friend. Suddenly man is directly in front of her, she says “Why are you following me?” in a high-pitched screech. Man, who has already demonstrated his cluelessness, starts to answer her while also appearing to be reaching out to touch her…she flips completely, kicks him in the nuts, runs away screaming.

He complains to the cops that she assaulted him.  
She pleads self-defense, that she had a reasonable fear of him due to his (completely idiotic and clueless) behavior.  
Does she get off? Does the law recognize that even though Man was doing something that was technically legal, it was also reasonably perceived by her to be threatening, making it justified for her to kick him in the nuts?

If the answer is yes, the law recognizes this and she is found not-guilty because she was defending herself against a reasonable perception of threat, then doesn’t this also apply to Martin, who may have punched GZ in the nose, vs. kicked him in the nuts? And doesn’t that mean that GZ’s bad choices and foolish behavior, legal or not, led to Martin’s justifiably “attacking” him (I can buy that Martin may have hit GZ first, I absolutely do not for one second believe that he had GZ down and was pounding his head into cement)? And if that is so… hwo do we hold GZ accountable, or do we not, and why not?

And if the answer is no, the law would not find Woman had a reasonable fear, then I am disturbed. Because I want to know that if some guy is following me around in a his truck, then he gets out of his truck and approaches me after observing me running away from him, and reaches so much as a finger in my direction, that I can then have my sister kick his ass around the block for me before he takes one more step and I would hope the law would be ok with that. Because that dude has behaved in a manner I find extremely threatening.

> [@Airbeck](#):
>
> **cosmosdan** posted this link interesting bit of information from the hearing in the GD thread. Not sure if everyone saw this:  
> link: [Trayvon Martin Case: Judge Grants George Zimmerman Bail | HuffPost Voices](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/george-zimmerman-bail-hearing_n_1440175.html)

> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Everything I’ve read confirms Zimmerman’s story.

Really? What have you been reading that the rest of us missed out on?

> [@Larry\_Mudd](#):
>
> Personally, I think the most likely catalyst for the physical confrontation was Zimmerman attempting to physically restrain Martin until the cops showed up.

I think that’s exactly what happened.

> [@](#):
>
> To me, they do sound more plausibly like the screams of a teenager who is being held by some armed nut than a grown man losing a fight - and I expect that this may be determined at trial.

God I hope so, because those screams in NO WAY WHATSOEVER support Zimmerman’s story.

> [@JoelUpchurch](#):
>
> x Then those would contradict Zimmerman, but those statements will be subject to cross-examination.  
> If you force someone to sit there and repeat a story over and over again, there will be inconsistencies. Anybody that tells the same story every time either has an eidetic memory or is a very skilled liar. Somebody who was planning to lie would have clammed until they worked out a consistent lie and practiced it.

Wow, really? On what planet does it work like this? Don’t you remember what Twain said: if you never lie, you never have to remember anything.

If GZ made contradictory statements about the important facts, then GZ is lying. If GZ is lying, there’s a reason he’s lying, and I’m pretty sure it’s because he didn’t shoot Martin to defend himself at all.

> [@Martin\_Hyde](#):
>
> I still don’t understand why you are literally obsessed with _proving_ that Zimmerman had no serious injuries. It’s an extremely simple factual question that will be resolved at trial by persons who have access to the EMT report along with Zimmerman’s medical records.
> 
> Even a next day physician’s medical records will more or less settle any questions, as any physician treating (just as an example) a broken nose will be able to testify as an expert as to the injuries and will probably have X-Rays and maybe even photos.
> 
> I don’t know why people (you specifically) think this is something that **can** be definitively proven at this stage, and I’m also puzzled why you want to: it will be definitively settled when the court looks at an EMT report (if one exists) and Zimmerman’s medical records from his physician. If those indicate a broken nose, then he had a broken nose and all the tortuous logic you’ve engaged in is irrelevant. If they don’t indicate a broken nose, don’t indicate serious injuries to the back of the head, then all the tortuous logic you engaged in is _still_ irrelevant, because the only relevant issue is the demonstrable medical facts which have already been recorded and are just waiting to be revealed to the public at large.

I don’t care if his nose was broken and he had a goose egg on the back of his head, because that does NOT prove that at the moment he pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in Martin’s chest, he was defending himself from Martin’s ongoing “attack”. It proves that he got hurt, and maybe it proves that Martin helped him get hurt. But since the only way that a man with a gun can sell the idea that he has to kill an unarmed man to save himself is if he is physically prevented from getting away from the attack, Zimmerman had to claim that martin was on top of him, holding him down and preventing him from getting away so he had to shoot him to stop the attack. And that’s horseshit, from all the evidence we have available. Pure, unadulterated horseshit. Almost nothing supports Gz’s (purported!) version of what happened, and I have no doubt at all that his statements to police were very contradictory. He had to think on his feet to come up with a good enough story to get away with killing Martin, and I’m sure he fucked it up plenty.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaHarder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@DaHarder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaHarder)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/375 "2012-04-21T21:05:28Z")

</div>

> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> I agree about the contradiction, but was he actually under oath when he spoke at his bail hearing?

Absolutely… I recall the wife taking note of the fact that he couldn’t raise his arm/hand all the way up to ‘take the oath’ because of the restraints he was wearing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/376 "2012-04-21T21:07:00Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=you with the face]  
Y’all are ragging on the prosecution essentially for not looking for medical evidence that contradicts it’s own medical evidence, and to me that ridiculous.  
[/QUOTE]  
I think you have it backwards - if the prosecution is going to argue that Zimmerman was not injured, they are going to have to come up with something that contradicts the references to Zimmerman’s injuries in the police report.

Even if the EMT report says he wasn’t injured, they are going to have to show something to explain why the police report said he was.

Regards,  
Shodan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/377 "2012-04-21T21:07:53Z")

</div>

> [@JoelUpchurch](#):
>
> What the police believe doesn’t matter. What can be proved in court is what matters. The police are supposed to gather **all the evidence**. This evidence goes through discovery and if the prosecution withholds any exculpatory evidence from the defense they can get in serious trouble.

Aren’t they “supposed” to collect only the evidence that they are legally required to collect? **Bricker** has told us that they would have not have been required to test Zimmerman’s blood alcohol content–even though doing so would have benefited him (if it had come out good) and the state’s case (if it had come out bad). But they didn’t have to, so we shouldn’t feel weirded out if they didn’t. I’m kind of lumping the medical records into the same laundry basket. It would have been nice if they had subpoened them, just like it would have been nice if the police had tested Zimmerman’s blood, and just like it would have been nice if the police report was more specific about the nature of Zimmerman’s injuries and mentioned whether he had been asked if he had wanted more immediate hospital treatment. And just like it would have been nice if they had contacted the best earwitness to the case right after the killing happened.

If we’re going to second guess the state, we should be second guessing them all the way down to the hilt.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/378 "2012-04-21T21:09:50Z")

</div>

> [@monstro](#):
>
> It’s about ten years different. Zimmerman is 28.
> 
> I would question Zimmerman’s intelligence if he thought 28 is anywhere close to “late teens”.
> 
> But I don’t see your point. Zimmerman actually nailed Martin’s age correctly (late teens). When he was apologizing, he said he thought the kid was older (just a little younger than me). Which seems to imply that had he known the “truth”, his actions would have been different. But he actually did know the “truth”. It was a strange thing to say.
> 
> It’s not a hangable offense, but it’s because of stupid crap like this that Zimmerman should haven’t have said anything to Martin’s family, at least with a slew of reporters and cameras trained on him.

His more damning statement was when he said he didn’t know he was unarmed. That suggests Zimmermans behavior would have been different if he had made a different assumption. But why should it have been different, if Martin attacked him?

I have a feeling that Zimmerman, against his lawyers advice of course, is going to testify on the stand. I might have to call in sick on that day just to watch him say all the wrong things.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/379 "2012-04-21T21:10:12Z")

</div>

I’ll say it more simply this time.

The fact that George Zimmerman was injured \*\*\*\*\*\*\*does not prove that his killing Martin was justified under the law.

* * *

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DaHarder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@DaHarder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaHarder)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125/380 "2012-04-21T21:11:12Z")

</div>

> [@treis](#):
>
> I’d hope the prosecution would have a much clearer and much more significant contradiction than this. “About like his late teens” and “About my age (26)” aren’t that different.

Now you’re just being ridiculous, as any reasonable individual knows full-well that ‘_late teens_’ would be from 17-19 years of age, and ‘around’ the age of 28 ( **Zimmerman** ’s actual age, not the one you made up) is far beyond that age-group.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125.md?page=18)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-zimmerman-humble-opinions-and-speculation-thread/619125.md?page=20)
