"i would bet the house and farm that the defense injects reasonable doubt into the eyewitness account. it's worthless, especially since the police were "correcting" other people's accounts, rather than just writing down what they said."
Take a breath, UB, and catch your bearings. The "defense" here will be representing Zimmer; they have no reason to "inject reasonable doubt" about the eye witness.
The prosecutor, if there is ever a charge, is going to have a very difficult time convincing a jury of this: Did Zimmer have no reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm? He was on his back taking a beating and that fact is corroborated by a policeman and an eyewitness. If a jury cannot be convinced that Zimmer had no reasonable fear, then Zimmer walks. The best a prosecutor could hope for in a case like this is a hung jury. Now, if more evidence emerges things could change.