Now for an unbiased take, from Prof. Clay Calvert of the University of Florida:
“Damages would be tough for Zimmerman to prove given all of the bad publicity that has surrounded him. He would only get what courts call special damages if he can prove that this particular broadcast on NBC caused him to lose a job or sustain some other direct monetary loss. On the other hand, compensatory damages for reputation harm — what it means when his friends don’t hang out with him, for example, or the public generally shuns and avoids him or ridicules him — are possible, but the jury would have to sort that only if Zimmerman wins his case.” (Disclosure: Calvert issued that opinion earlier this fall, when rumors of a suit surfaced.)
