Not to bring water back over the dam, but there were witnesses that stated that Trayvon was on top while the other one said George was on top; that alone leads me to believe that sometime there was an exchange of positions. If George, who was knowingly armed with a gun, did not wish to engage with a seventeen year old, who was unarmed, my question that burns me is why not get off of him and back away and show him your gun to bring the altercation to an end.
Both defense and prosecution did well with their presentations; there was enough from defense that would persuade me to leave out 2and degree murder, but prosecution most definitely showed numerous lies and facts that did not add up with the way George told his story that made me think that manslaughter would be the verdict.
You let me be 29 years old and have a seventeen year old be able to do that to me, I would hope to hear later on that he is at the top of his class in martial arts.
However, the verdict is in and that's just the way this thing ended. :shrug:
I'm not going to review the testimony again. Going straight from memory. I'm open to being shown I'm wrong. The one witness who you are referring to didn't say TM was on top. What she did say was the "bigger" person was on top. TM was easily taller than GZ. She also provided no other means of identifying. I believe she's also the witness who testified she saw the shooting, in which GZ was standing over TM while TM was face down on the ground when the shot rang out.
John Goode, on the other hand, actually went outside, identified the two combatants by clothing worn that night. Close enough GZ saw him come outside as GZ reported in an interview.
If, as you proffer, George "who was knowingly armed with a gun, did not wish to engage with a seventeen year old, who was unarmed" why not have your GUN out and just shoot him?
One can choose to believe whatever they wish, the facts of the case support GZ was surprised by TM, had his nose broken, had his head contact the cement at the very least three times (via the state's expert, other's say more), yelled for help, no one came, was being administered an "mma style ground and pound" (again John Goode's testimony), and was laying on his back with TM on top of him, when the shot was fired.
I believe the facts of the case support self defense.
You can choose a different belief.