( 4UMF NEWS ) Trayvon Martin Death Photo Released:
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who gunned down unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, was a mediocre college student who got Ds in two key criminal justice classes — though he did get a higher grade in a course about violent predators.
Zimmerman got a C in a criminal justice class called “Evil Minds, Violent Predators,” following the lower grades in Introduction to Criminal Justice and in a Juvenile Delinquency course, according to transcripts from his days at Seminole State College that were released Thursday.
Zimmerman, who was on academic probation when he was booted from the school in the wake of the shooting of Martin, did get an A in criminal litigation and a B in criminal investigation, the transcripts show.
But Zimmerman’s overall grade point average was dragged down by his abysmal math and science grades, which included a pair of Fs in two algebra classes.
The transcripts were in a package of evidence that was mistakenly released by prosecutors in Orlando, and which also included a photograph of the slain 17-year-old.
Zimmerman’s high school transcript was also in the evidence packet. It revealed that here too he struggled with math and science — and, more surprisingly, his Spanish grades were in the low 80s, despite the fact that Zimmerman is half-Peruvian.
Under Florida law, all the material is supposed to be confidential. But they are a window into the intellectual firepower of Zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is free on $1 million bond.
Zimmerman’s records surface shortly after his defense team announced Thursday it would seek a hearing to clear the shooter under Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
“The primary focus of a ‘stand your ground’ hearing is whether George Zimmerman reasonably believed that his use of his weapon was necessary to prevent great bodily harm to himself at the hands of Trayvon Martin,” defense attorney Mark O’Mara wrote on his website.
“The defense asserts that there is clear support for a strong claim of self-defense.”
Team Zimmerman is pinning its hopes on the law, which allows people to use deadly force — rather than retreat — if they have a reasonable belief they could be killed or badly harmed.
The hearings are mini-trials — except that the burden of proof is on the defense rather than the prosecution. A judge, rather than a jury, decides the outcome.
If Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. rules in Zimmerman’s favor, it would not only kayo a trial but would insulate the shooter from future lawsuits.
No date has been set for the hearing, which is not expected to happen for several months.
