Eric Zorn, a liberal columnist, takes a look at the possible timeline of events in the shooting...
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/04/411.html
Here is a big sticking point...
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/04/411.html
But what's often overlooked in all the heated conversations about this tragedy is the actual timeline based on police documents, a timeline that culminated at 7:16:56 p.m., more than five minutes later, with the sound of a single gunshot in the background of a 911 emergency call.
There's much we still don't know about what happened in those five minutes, but we do know it was five minutes — some 90 seconds longer than in many earlier news accounts that misstated the starting time of Zimmerman's call.
And we do know that maps of the area show that Martin was only about 180 yards from home when Zimmerman told police he saw him running in that direction.
Here is a big sticking point...
Online, the audio of this call has become to the killing of Trayvon Martin what the Zapruder film was to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — a fragmentary record subjected to endless close analysis by those looking for clues or support for their theories.
Does Zimmerman break off the chase?
By 7:12:15 p.m., the wind noises have stopped and his breathing has returned to normal as he discusses with the police dispatcher where responding officers should meet him. At 7:13:12 p.m. he interjects, "I don't know where this kid is."
Where is Martin? At just a normal walking pace of three miles per hour, he would be home by the time Zimmerman hangs up with police at 7:13:41 p.m.
He isn't. In fact, the fatal altercation between Zimmerman and Martin takes place only about 80 yards from Zimmerman's vehicle — 100 yards from the home where Martin was staying. And the first 911 emergency calls from neighbors reporting their fight don't come in until 7:16:11 p.m., 21/2 minutes after Zimmerman hung up.
So what? Well, it's very difficult to reconcile all this with the popular, outraged contention, as voiced by Rep. Frederica Wilson D-Fla., that Martin "was hunted down like a dog," stalked and overtaken by an officious, gun-toting racist.
.The yawning gaps in the timeline strongly suggest that this is not a simple story of predator and prey, or of a noble neighborhood hero demonized and facing second-degree murder charges simply for doing the right thing.
It's a reminder that there's a lot we still don't know about the five minutes between "he's running" and the horrible sound of gunfire. Â… It indicates that the victim as well as the accused made some terrible choices that night.
And it tells us to keep our minds open and our tempers in check, at least until some of those gaps get filled at Zimmerman's trial