Would your opinion change if it was confirmed that there were no 'punching wounds' on Martin's hands, as the Morgue Director has claimed?
Well, my opinion isn't that Martin punched Zimmerman to begin with, only that I don't think the video is clear enough to
definitively show that Zimmerman had no wounds
at all. I think the video is clear enough to cast substantial doubt on Zimmerman's statements as reported by media and alleged leaked police reports. I think the mortician's statements are problematic. The mortician is not a pathologist and is not trained to assess this kind of thing. For example, once a person is killed, blood stops flowing, which means that bruises do not form post-mortem. In short, I'm not sure the mortician is qualified to make such statements. Presumably, an autopsy on Martin was performed, and that report would have much more relevant information about what injuries Martin may have sustained. That said, pathologists (much like every other white collar profession, sadly) are not infrequently incompetent and cursory in their work.
So Zimmerman was following Martin, lost sight of him, and found him again. That's a pretty tortured definition of "repeatedly."
The law says repeatedly. Following somebody more than once, which Zimmerman may well have done, is repeated.
Just because Zimmerman loses sight of his target doesn't make it a new hunt once he reacquires him. (And, yes, I used those terms deliberately.)
Statutes tend to be interpreted very favorably to the prosecution, especially in the South (law and order, you know?). "Yes, your honor, Zimmerman's having lost sight of his target means it was a new hunt once he reacquired him." *Judge agrees.* (If you ever wanted to know how legal arguments in Southern courts work, that's about the sum of it.)
In all seriousness (not that the above is not a serious depiction of a Southern courtroom, because it is),
yes, Zimmerman may well have "repeatedly" followed Martin within the meaning of Florida's stalking statue. We lawyers mean what we say. When we say "repeated," we mean "more than once."
