George Zimmerman is trying to put the case against him in his favor by recent released photo of him the night Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in Florida. The action was spurred debate on social websites.
According to NBC News, the defense team for Zimmerman posted a high-resolution color photo of the Florida neighborhood watch leader the night 17-year-old Martin was shot and killed on Monday. The photo was provided to the defense on Oct. 29.
The shooting took place when Zimmerman encountered Martin, who was unarmed and walking through the Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood where his father lives, NBC News said.
Zimmerman pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin earlier this year. The ex-watch leader said that Martin attacked and beat him. He is out on bail after posting $1 million bond in July.
The "Stand Your Ground" law is being questioned about its effectiveness, which allows the use of force in self-defense when there is a reasonable belief of an unlawful threat. Martin's family is calling for a change.
"George Zimmerman profiled and pursued Trayvon," Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Martin family, told NBC News. "Trayvon had every right to stand his ground." Crump also said that the photo is not new evidence, just a color version of a photograph that has already been seen.
So what does the public think of all this? A lot.
Under MSN's blog post on Facebook, which got 81 shares and 1,331 comments, some posts were on Martin's side while others questioned if Zimmerman is right or wrong.
One commenter said, "So he got a bloody nose - a boy was killed. If he had stayed in his car as instructed by police dispatch - none of this would have happened. You can't claim self-defense when you were the aggressor. What a crock - I hope they prosecute him and he is found guilty." Another said, "For someone who says he was in fear of his life and was in a fight to save it and then had to use deadly force on another human being to obtain that objective, I would think he would look traumatized, terrorized, frantic or hysterical! Come on now! Instead he looks like someone who got a his drugs.... from pulling that trigger!"
Some commenters used evidence in the case to prove their point that Zimmerman should be convicted of killing Martin. One commenter said she wasn't going to take sides, "I am not saying who is right and who is wrong in this case. I will say this as a father that has kids that age and younger that my kids are never out walking around at night unless they are in my yard and it is fenced in. As a parent I would never let my kids walk to the store and if they are at a friends house and it becomes dark they are not to walk home. They are to call me to pick them up or the parents of the child that they are see will bring them home. With the way the world is now I think a parent is crazy to let their child walk around at night on the streets."
However, some have already chosen sides. One commenter fervently believed that Martin was responsible for his own death.
"Trayvon is clearly responsible for the actions that brought about his death. He approached Zimmerman from behind. Do you not understand what that means? He then verbally confronted him and immediately attacked him. Of course Trayvon is responsible for his own death."
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