Why george zimmerman will be found guilty

The family's attorney Benjamin Crump thanked all the protesters nationwide who "put their hoodies up and to everybody who said, 'I am Trayvon. We accept the jury's verdict. State Attorney Angela Corey said the case was a challenge. But she said, "That scream stops when the shot was fired and we always believed it wasTrayvon Martin.

Outside the courtroom, demonstrators who supported Trayvon stood in stunned silence. But legal analysts say they were not surprised by the verdict because the prosecution did not prove its case.

Susan Constantine, a jury consultant and body language expert who attended Zimmerman's trial regularly, said the verdict meant there was reasonable doubt. The case has gripped the nation since the shooting happened on Feb. Police initially did not charge Zimmerman with a crime, citing Florida's "stand-your-ground" law, which allows someone who believes they are in imminent danger to take whatever steps are necessary to protect themselves.

Protests ensued in several cities, including New York, by supporters of Trayvon's family. Many protesters voiced the opinion that Trayvon was targeted and killed for racial reasons. Trayvon, 17, was black and Zimmerman is Hispanic. Emmett Till, a year-old black young man, was tortured, grossly disfigured and murdered in in Mississippi after being accused of flirting with a white woman.

Prosecutors never argued that Zimmerman racially profiled the teen and instead said the teen was profiled as a criminal.

The five-week trial of Zimmerman, held in the same Florida city where Trayvon was killed, brought the facts of the case under a nationally televised spotlight, with every moment captured on camera.

More than 50 witnesses testified, and when deliberations began Friday afternoon, the jury requested a list of the plethora of evidence that lawyers presented. Some of the items include several statements Zimmerman gave to police, Trayvon's autopsy report and photos of both Zimmerman's injuries and Trayvon's body. Witnesses included forensic experts who testified about the angle at which Trayvon was shot, the position Zimmerman's gun may have been in, and where DNA and blood was found.

Other witnesses offered conflicting statements about how the fight happened, who had the upper hand when Zimmerman fired the shot and who was screaming for help in a call recording. This would go a long way toward deciding how much damage Martin was doing and if self-defense was a viable reason for the shooting. That fateful night featured a confrontation between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, and the prosecution and defense valiantly tried to prove their case in a tense and often heated courtroom.

After the verdict was read, Don West talked about the case with reporters. Contact Adrian Carrasquillo at adrian. Got a confidential tip? Submit it here. A BuzzFeed News investigation, in partnership with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, based on thousands of documents the government didn't want you to see. Zimmerman is worried as his murder trial draws to a close, fearing that he could spend the rest of his life in prison if found guilty or in hiding if acquitted, his lawyer said.

Zimmerman has spent the last few days huddling with family, ABC News has learned. Lead defense attorney Mark O'Mara says Zimmerman is concerned that even if he is acquitted, he would spend the rest of his life locked in the confines of his security regimen — hiding from the public and concealing his identity. If Zimmerman is found guilty he will immediately be remanded into custody and escorted into Seminole County Jail.

O'Mara says any conviction would be met with an appeal, and hinted he could decide to use a Stand Your Ground immunity hearing during an appeal. Zimmerman's defense team elected not to apply Zimmerman's right to a stand your ground hearing during the trial because the immunity hearing can only be invoked once. We'll notify you here with news about. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest?

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