The Murder of Trayvon Martin

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KDCat

The lying about money is not coming in. Florida has really restrictive evidence rules on when evidence of untruthful conduct can come in. Unless he is convicted of perjury, that's not coming in.

I don't know about his record, but it's a good point. How bad is it?

To me, this case is primarily a swearing contest in which you believe Zimmerman or you don't. It's going to turn almost entirely on Zimmerman's credibility. If he is a decent witness at all, I would think about putting him on. That's big "IF," though.

If the state's case is a swearing contest, essentially a tie, ties should go to the defendant. Juries can do anything, but absent something else in this case, there's a reason that just about no prosecutor in the state of Florida wanted anything to do with this case.

Without the Defendant testifying, it won't be about whether the jury believes Zimmerman, but whether the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman did not use self defense and murdered Mr. Martin. As I've said over and over, that's a tough burden to overcome when all of the evidence is conjecture.

When the lead investigator has once gone on the record saying there was no evidence as to who started the struggle, it's not going to be the defense which is going to strain credulity.

I have to admit to seeing this case with the eyes of a prosecutor. My bias makes me see him as guilty.

A good skill to learn as a prosecutor is to be able to see the holes in your own case. This case has some big 'ol holes. Zimmerman may actually be guilty, only one person on Earth really knows. The state actually has to prove it before they can lock him up and throw away the key.