by I cover a lot of things in this blog but one thing that I really haven’t written about is the Zimmerman trial. There is a simple reason for that. I just didn’t feel qualified to make informed comments about it and there are plenty of other sites that have been doing great work at doing just that.
I’d like to point you to three people that are qualified and have studied the case from the beginning.
First, there is Andrew Branca. Andrew is a defense attorney and competitive shooter who has authored the book The Law of Self Defense: The Indispensable Guide for the Armed Citizen. He has covered the trial on the legal blog Legal Insurrection and on his own blog. I followed the trial through his posts on Legal Insurrection rather than subjecting myself to the mainstream media.
Second, there is Michael Bane. His recent post on the outcome of the trial and the lessons it has for us is excellent. Michael writes about a number of things, produces a slew of TV shows, and is quite the raconteur. That said, I consider his Panteao Productions DVD on concealed carry one of the best out there. The first section of that DVD is a must watch for anyone who has or is considering getting a concealed carry permit.
Finally, there is the master himself, Massad Ayoob. Mas has been an expert witness in more cases involving shootings than you could shake a stick at and has authored more books and articles on the use of deadly force than anyone I know. He didn’t write about the Zimmerman case earlier because he had been retained as an expert witness by Zimmerman’s first attorney and was bound by confidentiality. Now that the case is over he is free to share his analysis of it. Here he looks at the notion that Trayvon Martin was an “unarmed teen”.