Originally Posted By: Prometheus
If he hadn't intended to kill someone, he wouldn't have been armed. Guns don't have "stun" settings...


So all cops carry guns because they're looking for people to kill?

 Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
Why would manslaughter be a stretch?


Because there's no way for them to prove that starting a fight is a reasonable reaction for Zimmerman being on his tail.

If this was any other case, academics would be saying that Martin should have just warned him to back off, and only attack if Zimmerman physically approached him with the intent to maim or kill. As mentioned earlier, there's no evidence to suggest that Zimmerman was interested in doing that since he didn't just draw the gun to begin with.

Supposition of manslaughter on Zimmerman's part would suggest that Martin would have been in the right if he had beaten Zimmerman to death.