Free Republic

There are many lessons to be learned from the media miscoverage of the George Zimmerman shooting of Trayvon Martin. We’ve dealt repeatedly with the false “hoodie” and racial narratives, the ludicrous audio and video analyzes, and the misunderstanding of the role Stand Your Ground played [actually, did not play] in the case. We’ve seen post-trial articles about how the prosecution failed to “humanize” Trayvon, without addressing that the prosecution deliberately didn’t go there because it would have brought into evidence Trayvon’s history of fighting, drug use and illegal weapons possession. Rachel Jeantel’s post-trial interview on CNN also raised the possibility...

George Zimmeman was found not guilty by a six-woman jury late in the evening of July 13, 2013. To try to understand why they came to that decision, consider the closing statements of the prosecution and defense. In many ways, they forecast that verdict.In this backwards case — defense attorney Mark O’Mara called it the “bizarro case” — the prosecution plumbed improbable depths once more by springing a motion to send an alternate charge of third-degree murder to the jury. Third-degree murder in Florida is murder committed during the commission of a felony. The supposed felony here? Child abuse....

The release of evidence in George Zimmerman’s murder trial quickly made a mockery of his second-degree murder charges, and threw a further layer of shame upon media and political opportunists who misrepresented a tragic, but fairly straightforward, case of lethal force employed in self-defense. It is remarkable to take stock of this evidence and realize that it supports every single aspect of Zimmerman’s statement to the police. His injuries are consistent with his account of physical assault by Trayvon Martin. Martin’s gunshot wound occurred at the very short range described by Zimmerman, demolishing fantasies about a racist mall-cop wannabe stalking...

What to make of the "ABC World News" report about George Zimmerman's injuries after shooting Trayvon Martin? The TV analysts stepped in Tuesday night after ABC's Matt Gutman reported that Zimmerman's medical report showed the shooter had a broken nose, two black eyes and gashes on his head. Zimmerman had refused to go to the hospital the night of the shooting, and his doctor treated him the next day, Gutman reported in his exclusive. ABC's Dan Abrams said, "There's no question these documented injuries help Zimmerman's case, but the fundamental legal question remains: Who was the aggressor?" Zimmerman is charged...

Florida teenager Trayvon Martin died from a single gunshot wound to the chest fired from “intermediate range,” according to an autopsy report reviewed Wednesday by NBC News. The official report, prepared by the medical examiner in Volusia County, Fla., also found that the 17-year-old Martin had one other fresh injury – a small abrasion, no more than a quarter-inch in size – on his left ring finger below the knuckle. Separately, a medical report on Martin’s alleged killer, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, prepared by his personal physician the day after Martin’s shooting in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, found that the...

WFTV has confirmed that autopsy results show 17-year-old Trayvon Martin had injuries to his knuckles when he died. O’Mara wouldn't comment on the autopsy evidence, but WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said it's better for the defense than it is for the prosecution. WFTV has learned that the medical examiner found two injuries on Martin’s body: The fatal gunshot wound and broken skin on his knuckles. When you compare Trayvon’s non-fatal injury with Zimmerman's bloody head wounds, the autopsy evidence is better for the defense, Sheaffer said. “It goes along with Zimmerman's story that he acted in self-defense, because he...

A medical report compiled by the family physician of accused Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman and obtained exclusively by ABC News found that Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Martin during an alleged altercation.

When the tragic story of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin consumed the nation over the past few months, a number of questions were raised about racism, vigilantism, and self defense laws. However, the most important question was always the first one; what exactly happened that fateful night? The shooter, George Zimmerman, has always claimed that he fired his gun in self defense, something many found hard to believe considering the young boy he killed was unarmed. However, tonight, ABC World News broke information about the injuries Zimmerman received that may shed more light on just how that night went...

SANFORD -- George Zimmerman's attorney is expected to get a look at some of the prosecution's key evidence against his client Monday. But the public may not get a look at any of it -- at least not yet. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February. Zimmerman has claimed he shot the teen in self-defense, but state prosecutors said the evidence they have collected suggests otherwise. Normally, such evidence would be made public right away, but attorney Mark O'Mara said he wants to redact some of that information first. O'Mara said...

George Zimmerman admits he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. But was it self defense? ABC7's Scott Thuman went inside the Sanford, Florida neighborhood where the shooting happened. He talks with Frank Taaffe, a friend of Zimmerman's, and a former neighborhood watch volunteer himself, who says it was self defense. Taafe shows us what he says eye witnesses told him happened that night in the Twin Lakes neighborhood. In this now infamous neighborhood, there's almost as much foot traffic as vehicle traffic. There's a cut-through frequented by kids, some following the very same footsteps as Trayvon Martin. But in an area...