Acquittal

The big problem for the prosecution, from the beginning, was that Zimmerman's self-defense story seemed plausible. From a study of the facts, such as they were, it was going to be hard for a jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Eric Zorn, a Chicago Tribune columnist who leans liberal, wrote:

Perhaps the jurors agreed with my basic outline of the story, that Zimmerman wrongly felt Martin was up to no good, got out of his truck to follow (not chase) Martin so he could lead police to him when they arrived, was ambushed by an angry Martin, was getting his butt beaten and panicked and shot him, then embellished his story in order to bolster what was already a legitimate claim of self-defense under Florida law.

Of course, it would have been nice if the whole incident were on tape, an issue which came up during the trial:

One of the officers who questioned Zimmerman, lead investigator Chris Serino, testified that he tried to bluff Zimmerman into thinking the clash had been recorded to convince him that he would be in more trouble if he lied.

“I believe his words were, ‘Thank God, I was hoping somebody would videotape it,’” Serino said.

In the future, perhaps our cell phones will be legally required to record everything that happens around us, so we will all have a complete record of our lives. Of course, we won't have time to listen to it all. And our right to privacy would be gone. But jurors' jobs would be easier.

A courtroom highlight reel
could really keep it real.