When George Zimmerman spotted Trayvon Martin last year, Zimmerman saw a troublemaker, a “f—ing punk” up to no good, a Florida prosecutors told a jury, says the Miami Herald. Prosecutor John Guy described the volunteer as a vigilante on a mission to rid his block of “a–holes” like Trayvon. The defense countered that Zimmerman was forced into a confrontation he didn't want. As a concerned citizen trying to protect his neighborhood, Zimmerman only shot to save his own life after he was viciously attacked, said his attorney, Don West. West argued that Martin “armed himself with the concrete sidewalk.”
The sharply different pictures of what happened emerged during opening arguments in a case that has grabbed headlines for more than a year and focused renewed attention on the enduring struggle with race. Guy’s argument to open a trial that might take a month was that Zimmerman “shot Trayvon for the worst of all reasons: because he wanted to.” West noted that the prosecution had started its case with fiery speech — all emotion, no proof, saying, “My focus is on the detail [even] if I have to sacrifice passion.''