During a motion to acquit after prosecutors rested their case, both sides laid out what was essentially a draft of the closing arguments they made on Thursday in the Seminole County Courthouse.
Pointing to the final moments of the struggle on Feb. 26, 2012, and Trayvon's decision – according to the defense – to strike Zimmerman first, defense attorney Mr. O’Mara said bluntly: “Trayvon Martin caused his own death.”
Prosecutor Richard Mantei countered that Zimmerman exhibited the ill will necessary to support a second-degree murder conviction the instant he pointed and fired his gun into the chest of an innocent teenager.
To make it worse, Mr. Mantei said, Zimmerman profiled Trayvon, thus waiving his self-defense rights. Mantei said Zimmerman thought he knew who Martin was – a criminal – but he was neglectfully wrong.
