The Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin Trial Begins

The Zimmerman trial has all the hallmarks of the OJ Simpson trial with the media swarming to Hanford, a town between Orlando and Daytona. For some, it is about civil rights because there is a dead black person killed by a non-black. For others, it is about the right of self defense. The trial will test Florida's legal system. There will no doubt be protesters who support Trayvon and those for Zimmerman. While the trial is about a crime and self defense, it has become a trial about race. If Zimmerman had been black, would the same media attention and the uproar of the black community be the same? I tend not to think so. But, because that was not the case, suddenly the old scars of decades ago come to the surface again, at least for some.

Let's not forget that it was the fact that Zimmerman was not arrested immediately because of Florida's self defense and because of that, the black community went into a tizzy. Suddenly, it had to be race related because Zimmerman is Hispanic. The uproar began because Trayvon's parents ignited it probably because they have been oppressed by racism in their lives. They felt injustice and used the media to incite and it was in short order that Zimmerman became a victim of racist remarks from blacks and others. Then, black leaders joined in to support the Martin's further fanning racism.

What are the important pieces of evidence?

Police photos within minutes after their arrival show Zimmerman very swollen nose and injuries to the back of his head. Both support his argument that the scuffle did land him on the ground with Trayvon on top. He said he was hit in the nose, it is moot whether it was broken or not. The photo shows it clearly swollen. While they support his argument, they clearly are not life threatening that self defense claims need.

Moments before he was shot, a young Miami woman was on the phone with Trayvon. she said Trayvon was afraid of being followed and heard him talk to Zimmerman asking why he was following him. Zimmerman was heard asking Trayvon what he was doing, then the phone went dead.

There is the 911 call where a voice is heard screaming. Was it Zimmerman or Trayvon? Some experts laugh at the notion that voice ID will be accurate and impossible to know. Since Zimmerman has photos showing he was hurt, maybe it was Zimmerman.

Zimmerman's call to police really shows nothing. He was told that he does not need to follow him. Obviously, Zimmerman, a watchguard, thought otherwise. This was before the two met unexpectedly.

Then, there is an eyewitness stating he did see Trayvon on top of Zimmerman hitting him and slamming him against the sidewalk. Immediately after the shooting, he told police that Zimmerman was screaming for help and later was not 100% sure.

The trial is expected to last six weeks. Was Zimmerman so seriously threatened that he deliberately fired the gun in self defense OR was it accidental when the two struggled control for the gun and, like in movies, it went off and Trayvon was the unlucky one? I tend to think that is what really happened. I do not think Zimmerman hunted Trayvon down, but tried to observe him to see what he was up to, then lost track of him. Suddenly, both paths crossed in the dark and out of fright, Trayvon was first to confront verbally. From there, the fear factor simply went out of control especially when Zimmerman's gun handle was exposed.