[rogue yam]

This does not even appear to be an over-zealous citizen making an arrest after witnessing a crime. It APPEARS only one crime was committed. Even if the kid pulled a knife on the street to protect himself against another armed man, the deceased appears to be a murder victim.

So what if Zimmerman approached Martin with his weapon concealed and simply asked whether Martin lived nearby and in response to this Martin rushed Zimmerman and started punching him in the face?

If that was the case, would it be murder for Zimmerman to draw his weapon and defend himself?

[aruanan]

So what if Zimmerman approached Martin with his weapon concealed and simply asked whether Martin lived nearby and in response to this Martin rushed Zimmerman and started punching him in the face?

If that was the case, would it be murder for Zimmerman to draw his weapon and defend himself?

Why are you introducing hypotheticals that have absolutely no relevance to the case at hand? We're talking about Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea. Zimmerman is by all accounts the one who did not follow proper procedure for anyone involved in a neighborhood watch. It's called "watch" for a reason, not "neighborhood confront."