[casinochniks]

I've put together a few articles which may be at the heart of the furor - and the dilemma - of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.


Trayvon Martin killing in Florida puts 'Stand Your Ground' law on trial
The shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in a gated Florida community has raised allegations
of racial injustice and highlighted the burden that 'Stand Your Ground' laws impose on law enforcement officers.
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / March 16, 2012

ATLANTA

For many tuning in across the nation, the shooting late last month in Florida of an unarmed black teenager by a suspicious neighborhood watch captain looks like a racially motivated murder.

That's why the decision by the police not to arrest George Zimmerman for getting out of his car and shooting Trayvon Martin in the middle of a gated neighborhood in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26 has raised allegations of racial injustice and profiling.

The shooting has sparked a nationwide protest petition, the involvement of a black militia group, and, on Friday, a call by the parents of the slain teenager for the FBI to investigate the handling of the case, which police have handed off to state investigators.

The shooting also presents a tragic snapshot of so-called "Stand Your Ground" laws, what critics call “license-to-murder.”

Such laws eliminate the English Law concept of a “duty to retreat” from dangerous situations outside the home. Without that, an armed citizen has no obligation to stand down in the face of a threat.

The problem, as the Martin case highlights, is that making the duty to retreat "totally irrelevant," as Stetson University law professor Robert Batey has said, means the law gives prosecutors fewer factors to consider when determining self-defense, including, potentially, the extent to which a person claiming self-defense may have aggravated the situation.

Florida became the first state to pass a specific Stand Your Ground law in 2005, essentially expanding self-defense zones from the home to most public places. Seventeen states now have such laws.

“It's hard to imagine that this couldn't have been resolved by [Mr. Zimmerman] leaving, so that no one would've gotten hurt, so this is a case where the Stand Your Ground law can actually make a legal difference,” says former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Bellin, a law professor at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas.

“Even if you have suspicions about what motivated this, and you think there was a racial element and no justification for this shooting, the fact is he had no obligation to retreat under the law,” he notes. “If prosecutors don't have the evidence to disprove the claim of self-defense, they won't be able to win.”

But for the parents of the victim, and some 240,000 people who have signed a petition for a federal investigation on the Change.org website, the bare facts of the case suggest that Zimmerman was the aggressor and that the failure to arrest him points to covert racism and an abdication of authority by the local police department.

In a press conference Friday, Trayvon Martin's parents said they no longer had any faith in the Sanford Police Department and called on the FBI to take over the investigation.

"We're not getting any closure, any answers, and it's very disturbing,” Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, said. “As a father, I'm hurt. I feel betrayed by the Sanford Police Department."

Meanwhile, tensions are roiling in the area as several large rallies and protests are being planned and a black militia group has vowed to place the shooter under citizen's arrest. The state has said it may take several weeks to complete its review of the case.

On Feb. 26, Zimmerman, 28, a self-appointed block watch captain in The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, just outside Orlando, called 911 from his car to report a suspicious person – a black man wearing a hoodie – walking slowly through the neighborhood. The 911 operator, according to police, told Zimmerman to wait for police to arrive. The man in the hoodie was Trayvon, returning to his family's house from buying Skittles and an iced tea at a local convenience store.

Instead of waiting for police, Zimmerman exited the car and shot Trayvon after a brief altercation. Trayvon, 17, had no previous criminal record, while Zimmerman recently had a 2005 felony arrest for assault on a police officer expunged by the courts.

"Had Trayvon Martin been the triggerman, they would have arrested him day one, hour one and he would be in jail with no bail,” Ben Crump, a Tallahassee lawyer representing the family, told the Florida Courier.

"We have a murderer on the streets, walking around," Natalie Jackson, another lawyer representing the family, said on Friday.

Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee told the Orlando Sentinel that he had no grounds to arrest Zimmerman, and told reporters Thursday that that he has invited the US Department of Justice and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review the investigation. Florida officials confirmed they began an investigation on March 13.

"It's an open book," Mr. Lee said. "If they want to look at what we did and how we did it and what information we have, they're welcome to it."

Police have released little information, including the 911 tapes, about what happened that night and no details about how Trayvon and Zimmerman ended up grappling. What has been revealed is that before an officer arrived, Trayvon and Zimmerman got into a fight, according to police, witnesses heard one or both calling for help, and Zimmerman shot Trayvon once in the chest with a 9 mm handgun.

One witness said he came upon the scene and saw Zimmerman on his back on the ground, which jibes with statements by the police that he was covered in grass and blood. Another witness has said in a TV interview that “there was no punching, no hitting going on at the time, no wrestling,” but police say that witness gave an official account to them that jibed with Zimmerman's story.

In a letter to the Orlando Sentinel on Friday, Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman, wrote that his son is part-Hispanic “with many black family members and friends.” He also pushed back at the idea that Zimmerman was the aggressor who instigated the altercation.

"At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin," he wrote. "When the true details of the event become public, and I hope that will be soon, everyone should be outraged by the treatment of George Zimmerman in the media."

The emotional stakes, racial backdrop, and the awkward position of the police department suggest how state laws broadening self-defense rights can backfire. But whether it's a prosecutor or a jury deciding the outcome of a case, self-defense arguments are often powerful and difficult to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt, even in jurisdictions without Stand Your Ground laws.

“This is a tragedy, and to the extent the law plays a role in encouraging this type of situation to happen, it calls into question the law,” says Professor Bellin. “At the same time, it's not clear that if this happens in a jurisdiction where there isn't a Stand Your Ground law, that you necessarily get a different result.”

© The Christian Science Monitor


Trayvon Martin: Zimmerman was not following Neighborhood Watch 'rules'

'There's no reason to carry a gun' director says

By Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel March 24, 2012

Neighborhood Watch evokes scenes of get-to-know-you barbecues and folks keeping an eye on neighbors' homes while they're out of town or working late.

Until last month, it did not conjure images of teenagers being shot to death by the people who run a program designed to help keep communities safe.

Then George Zimmerman, who coordinated the Neighborhood Watch at a town-house community in Sanford, shot and killed unarmed Miami Gardens high-school student Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, sparking a collective rage that has spread nationwide and beyond.

Chris Tutko, director of Neighborhood Watch for the National Sheriffs' Association, said Zimmerman broke some cardinal rules.

First, he approached a stranger he suspected of wrongdoing.

"If you see something suspicious, you report it, you step aside and you let law enforcement do their job," Tutko said. "This guy went way beyond the call of duty. At the least, he's overzealous."

Second, Zimmerman carried a handgun. Police departments and sheriff's offices that train volunteers advise them never to carry weapons — though Zimmerman broke no laws by doing so because he has a concealed-weapons permit.

"There's no reason to carry a gun," Tutko said.

Police said Zimmerman was running an errand in his SUV — with his gun — when he first spotted Trayvon walking back from 7-Eleven about 7:15 p.m. Zimmerman called police to report Trayvon as suspicious, and although a dispatcher said he didn't need to follow the teen, the two got into a scuffle.

Zimmerman shot Trayvon once in the chest with a 9 mm handgun, officers said. The 17-year-old died steps from the home of his father's fiancée, where he had been visiting. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was not arrested. Because of public outrage, a special prosecutor, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating.

What it is — and what it's not

Now, with Neighborhood Watch in the spotlight, organizers want people to know what it is — and what it is not.

"I'm disappointed that people are trying to put blame onto the program when it's not the program's fault," said Wendy Dorival, who coordinates volunteer programs, including Neighborhood Watch, for the Sanford police. "Neighborhood Watch is not what took his life away."

The program was created in 1972 by the National Sheriffs' Association to help prevent crime as people relocated more often and more women entered the work force, loosening community ties. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the initiative expanded to include emergency response, terrorism awareness and disaster preparedness.

Its core mission has not changed, however: to build a sense of togetherness so people care enough to look after one another.

Some Neighborhood Watch groups patrol their communities. Others simply observe in the course of their daily routine and report anything out of the ordinary to law enforcement.

The Neighborhood Watch at Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Zimmerman lived and was chosen as coordinator by his neighbors, was formed in September, Dorival said. It is not registered with the national group, but there is no registration requirement. The Sanford Police Department provides training and community signs, and informs residents about crime trends and prevention.

Zimmerman raised no red flags during an organizational meeting Sept. 22, and no one had complained about him before the shooting, Dorival said.

Sanford and the Volusia County Sheriff's Office have another volunteer program called Citizens on Patrol. In Volusia, those volunteers ride two to a Sheriff's Office-issued car. They undergo background and driver checks, an hourlong interview and 60 hours of training.

"We don't want any cop wannabes or people thinking they're going out and acting like cops and making arrests," sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "If we think that's the motivation, we're going to weed them out."

Neighborhood Watch, by contrast, is less formal and is run by residents — although volunteers in both programs are told not to confront anyone. Their job is to observe and describe suspicious people or cars to law officers and help make their neighbors aware of problems.

"We tell people, 'Don't be a hero,'" Dorival said. "Don't risk it."

Watch group improved other Sanford neighborhood

Sherry Davis, coordinator of Lordland Neighborhood Watch near Sanford, credits the group with ridding her community of prostitution and drugs.

"The Neighborhood Watch around here has been a really good thing because it has slowed the drug activity," said Davis, 48, a grandmother of 13. "If it's here, it's not as open as it was."

Some Neighborhood Watches meet monthly. Others meet every six months, for occasional social gatherings or not at all, Dorival said.

The Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office require groups to meet twice a year and have participation from 40 percent of the homes in a watch area. The annual National Night Out anticrime block party counts as one meeting.

Coordinators such as Zimmerman assign block captains, act as liaisons to their law-enforcement agency's crime-prevention specialist and disseminate information to residents. They often are described as an extra set of eyes and ears for officers who can't be everywhere at once.

"The police can't do it all," said Tutko, who has spent four decades in law enforcement. "They need the people to be involved. As tragic as this situation is, I still think Neighborhood Watch is the best way for citizens to get involved in their communities."

sjacobson@tribune.com

Copyright © 2012, Orlando Sentinel


Trayvon Martin's killing shatters safety within Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford

By Lane DeGregory, Times Staff Writer: Sunday, March 25, 2012


Cheryl Brown, with the family’s boxer, Sake, says she and her family are rattled by the fatal shooting inside their gated community.
SANFORD

These days, Cheryl Brown has to walk the dog. • For a month — ever since her son heard someone screaming for help and her daughter called 911 and everyone heard the loud snap of a gunshot — Brown's children have been afraid to go outside. • Her youngest daughter, who is 9, won't even look out the window. She keeps seeing the dead teen's body. • "That could have so easily been my son," said Brown. "He wears hoodies all the time."

Brown, a 40-year-old single mom who says she is "mostly black," moved into the Retreat at Twin Lakes last year. She chose the gated subdivision of identical townhomes because it is racially diverse, lots of children live there and, she said, "it seemed so safe."

Then, on Feb. 26, neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, 17, as he walked from a 7-Eleven with iced tea and a bag of Skittles. Now, Brown's children linger inside. And she does dog duty.

On Wednesday, her white boxer, Sake, led her along the sidewalk, then turned onto a manicured path stretching between two rows of townhouses. Brown stopped and pointed to a patch of shade beneath a scrawny maple tree.

"This is where Trayvon was killed," she said. "He was almost home."

No blood stains the grass where he lay. No flowers or football or Skittles have been placed there to remember the teenager whose death has sparked a national outcry.

A memorial of balloons, teddy bears and cans of Arizona Iced Tea is growing outside the front gate.

Inside the fence, everything still looks the same. Except it's not.

The building of the Retreat at Twin Lakes is a classic Florida story.

Developers saw potential in the sandy acres east of Orlando and determined to turn them into an oasis. They planned a gated subdivision just 10 minutes from downtown — a cloistered community near the interstate, close to good schools, outlet malls and the magic of Disney World.

The idea, as always, was that people could live peacefully in a paradise where nobody could park a car on the street or paint the house an odd color.

In 2004, Engle Homes began construction on 263 two-story townhouses, with upstairs porches and covered back patios and plenty of green space. Inside, the townhomes boasted granite countertops, hardwood floors, master suites and walk-in closets. Outside, there was a pond, a clubhouse and a community pool.

Everything was walled in, to keep out the unknown.

"With its modern Florida architecture, this secluded, gated community is like living in a resort," a spokesmodel says in a promotional video posted on YouTube. "It's the perfect choice for those looking for space and comfort."

The initial cost of a 1,400-square-foot townhome and the pass code to that front gate: $250,000. Today, post-boom, the price has dipped below $100,000.

• • •

George Zimmerman, 28, moved into the Retreat in the summer of 2009 with his wife, Shellie. Records show he worked at a pressure-washing company, though neighbors said they never saw a truck.

Right away, he started calling the police. The 911 operators translated his complaints into the bloodless shorthand of law enforcement.

Aug. 26, 2009: "Male driving with no headlights on."

Sept. 22, 2009: "Yellow speed bike doing wheelies."

Oct. 23, 2009: "Aggressive white and brown pit bull."

The transcripts of Zimmerman's 911 calls during the more than two years he lived on Retreat View Circle fill 28 pages. His concerns include everything from the driver of a pickup cutting off people to a neighbor leaving his garage door open.

He kept a close watch for outsiders, but it couldn't have been easy to tell who belonged and who didn't. When the housing market crashed, many townhomes were foreclosed on and the owners evicted. Dozens of investors, unable to unload the two- and three-bedroom properties, rented them to cover their upside-down mortgages.

The developers had envisioned a stable neighborhood with home*owners planting long-term roots, but now townhouses were turning over all the time. Insiders moved out. Outsiders moved in.

By the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, 40 properties inside the gate were empty and more than half of the residents were renters.

Including Brandy Green, who was dating Martin's dad. And Zimmerman himself.

Trayvon Martin lived with his dad, who resides in the Miami area, and had visited his dad's girlfriend at the Retreat several times before. The kids in the neighborhood always looked forward to playing football with him. But to George Zimmerman, he was a stranger.

• • •

Last summer, residents reported three burglaries at the Retreat, said Sanford police volunteer coordinator Wendy Dorival. At the time, workers were repairing cracks in some of the buildings. Some residents worried they were leaving their ladders up — and teenagers in the Retreat were using them to break into upstairs windows. Others feared outsiders were sneaking in.

Gated communities aren't really any safer than other neighborhoods, said David Morgenstern, spokesman for the Sanford Police Department. "Crime is comparable no matter where you go. All that gate does is make the people who live in that community feel better.

"If a criminal wants to get in, they can."

It's not hard. Drivers draft behind residents with remote control passes, following them before the gates swing closed. Old renters retain the pass code and share it. Landscapers, pizza delivery people and repairmen all have access.

After the break-ins, Zimmerman's calls to 911 seemed to shift, zeroing in on black males. Were black males actually responsible for any of the crimes reported in the Retreat? Impossible to say. Morgenstern, the police spokesman, said last week that he was too overwhelmed with media requests to get the arrest records on individual cases.

In police argot, anyone Zimmerman called about was a "suspicious person," but of course it was Zimmerman who was suspicious.

Aug. 3, 2011: "Black male with white tank top and black shorts … (Zimmerman) believes subject is involved in recent (burglaries) in the neighborhood."

Aug. 6, 2011: "Two black males, one wearing black tank top … are near the back gate of the neighborhood."

In September, the Sanford police helped the Retreat start a neighborhood watch program.

"Some residents called me wanting to do a startup," said Dorival, a civilian police employee. About 30 people came to the clubhouse for that first session, she said. "Everyone was enthusiastic." Zimmerman volunteered to be captain.

"I told them, this is not about being a vigilante police force," Dorival said. "You're not even supposed to patrol on neighborhood watch. And you're certainly not supposed to carry a gun."

For the first two months of this year, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the Sanford police logged 51 calls for service. Half were just people requesting information. The others included eight burglaries, two bike thefts and three simple assaults.

Zimmerman's last 911 call came on Feb. 26, at 7:11 p.m. "Black male, late teens, dark gray hoodie, jeans or sweatpants walking around area," the dispatcher recorded. A minute later: "Subject now running towards back entrance of complex."

On a recording of the call, you can hear Zimmerman say, "He's got his hand in his waistband. Something is wrong with him." Then, "He's running toward the back entrance."

The dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow him. A patrol officer was on the way.

Minutes later, other residents at the Retreat started calling:

"A guy's yelling for help."

"I just heard a gunshot right outside our house."

"I don't hear any more screaming."

"I'm pretty sure the guy's dead out here."

"This is, like, a nice neighborhood. Oh my god! Why would someone just kill someone like that?"

• • •

Cheryl Brown was at a Walmart that night when her daughter called, crying. She hurried home to find police blocking the gates to her subdivision. She parked her car across the street and ran to her kids.

Her son, Austin, was hysterical. He had been right there, walking the dog, when he heard the cry for help. But then Sake had pulled off the leash. As her son chased the boxer, he had heard the gunshot.

"What if the dog hadn't gotten loose? What if he had tried to help? My son is 13," Brown said. "He looks a lot like Trayvon."

For her son's whole life, Brown said, she has told him: If someone's chasing you, run. "What if it's a kidnapper? Or someone trying to beat or rob you?" she asked.

She stopped walking the dog and shook her head. "But if he runs, does that make him even more suspicious?" Brown wiped her eyes. "What makes someone suspicious? That's what worries me the most."

• • •

Every building at the Retreat at Twin Lakes is painted some shade of brown: taupe, terra cotta, khaki. Every townhome has a garage out front and a keypad on the door handle — so if someone steals your keys they can't get inside. Dozens of yards have signs alerting would-be intruders of alarm systems.

"It is a peaceful place. We don't have problems here," Tito Ortiz, 62, said the other day beside his mailbox. A former minister, Ortiz remarried five years ago and bought a house in the Retreat for his new bride. Somewhere they would be safe to grow old together.

"I don't know what happened with that boy. I'm so surprised that happened here," he said. But he doesn't worry about staying in the neighborhood and has no intention of moving. "We are still going to find our peace here."

Many residents of the gated community declined to talk to reporters. Others were eager to give their opinions, but not their names. Several said they had started carrying guns.

No one had seen Zimmerman. Or Trayvon Martin's dad. Except on the news.

Jamie Meyers, 26, and her two preschoolers walked through the neighborhood to place silk violets on the teenager's memorial. She and her husband moved here two years ago to be behind a gate, to be surrounded by other families with kids. "We're thinking about moving now," said Meyers, who teaches middle school. "We don't want to stay here, in a place something like this could happen."

The next day, on the other side of the complex, Thomas Ransburg, 20, was outside talking to his girlfriend. Ransburg has lived behind the gate since January, he said, and sees no reason to move now.

A few months ago, he was hanging out with a friend who lives in another townhouse. "But that day, he forgot his key," said Ransburg. So they walked around to the back patio and opened the sliding glass door. Someone saw them and called the police. They spent four hours at the station, trying to convince investigators his friend really lived there. "They thought we were trying to rob it or something," he said.

Ransburg, who is black and wears long dreadlocks, laughed at the memory, swore it didn't make him angry, and said he understood. "I don't think it was racial," he said. "I guess we just looked suspicious. Everyone's always been real friendly back here. People smile and wave. All the little kids run around. There's always laughter."

Just then, three teenage males walked through the unlocked side gate, down the walkway toward Ransburg. T.J. Jones and his twin brother, T.Y., 14, and their cousin James Young, 13, have lived in the complex for two years. Their moms moved here from apartments to give the boys more room and a safe place to play.

The boys, who are black, used to play football with Trayvon Martin "right there on that grass where he died," said T.Y.

He told Ransburg that their mom won't let them outside after dark anymore. She is worried someone might think they are "suspicious or something," said T.J. "She keeps telling us to be careful."

Ransburg nodded, and pointed at the townhouse across the street. "You see that door? That's my door," he told the boys. "If anyone is ever bothering you or following you, if you ever feel scared, that's my door. Knock on it. I'll be there to get your back."

• • •

The community pool was empty that afternoon. So was the clubhouse. On the bulletin board, there were two fliers. One was a notice from the homeowners' association: "All residents are part of the Neighborhood Watch program and are encouraged to get to know your neighbors and look out for one another! … There is also a neighborhood watch meeting with Officer Wendy on Thursday, March 29th, 7 p.m."

The other flier said simply, "Neighborhood Watch meeting canceled."

Lane DeGregory can be reached at degregory@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8825. Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

© 2012 Tampa Bay Times

[primaveraloler]

A more recent photograph of George Zimmerman

[GECEDEANY]

Since he got out of his car, ran the kid down, likely started the fight, and then shot him, it's kind of likely "stand your ground" wouldn't apply.

[immewaycypef]

..and yet somehow it does (he has not been arrested, charged or is even under suspicion by the local authorities)

[eladiopsislab]

The Stand Your Ground law is fundamentally flawed if officers even can not or will not further investigate when something like this happens. While Stand Your Ground was implemented to protect victims, it wasn't implemented to circumvent all procedures involved in a shooting death. That Zimmerman still hasn't been arrested indicates to me anyway that it has.

I read another article the other day on this guy. Basically the sinister Paul Blart. The three 911 calls by him as shown in the above article were just three of many calls made because of his overzealousness. He also had an unfulfilled desire to be a police officer & was taking courses in 2008 with the sherrif's department. The latest article is that witnesses say they found Zimmerman on his back with a bloody nose, which apparently jibes with his attack defense.

[Brutton]

One witness says she first saw Zimmerman standing & straddling above Trayvon's outstretched body.

Zimmerman's father states that "At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin" which is belied by Zimmerman's own statements and actions and also by statements relayed by Trayvon's girlfriend, who apparently was on the phone with Trayvon when the altercation began.

Reportedly, afterwards Trayvon's corpse was tested for drugs & alcohol, but Zimmerman was not tested for anything and allowed to leave the scene -- with his gun in hand.

Today it's reported by Zimmerman's lawyer that the self-appointed patrolman suffered a broken nose. Yet he didn't ask for medical aid on the day of the incident, and didn't seek medical inspection until the following day.

[Mowselelew]

It may "jibe", but how can you blame a man for hitting someone else when they come up and start asking questions/try to "apprehend" you?

If anything, TREVOR had the right to "stand his ground" and this guy deserved more than a broken nose.


(BTW, you get a broken nose, you are not going to "forget" to put that little detail down in your report. Those things gush like there was no tomorrow.)

[putza]

Since he got out of his car, ran the kid down, likely started the fight, and then shot him, it's kind of likely "stand your ground" wouldn't apply.

"Likely started the fight" is what makes Stand Your Ground the big issue in whether charges can be brought.

The law differs in the various states that have enacted it. In some, the Ground is your own property, which would make it easier to determine the aggressor. In Florida, the Ground is wherever you happen to be. Since both parties have the right to be there, who is really standing his ground?

[floadaVonfoli]

Today it's reported by Zimmerman's lawyer that the self-appointed patrolman suffered a broken nose. Yet he didn't ask for medical aid on the day of the incident, and didn't seek medical inspection until the following day.

There's more...

March 26, 2012 6:43 PM

Investigator: Martin family "will get answers"
By
Mark Strassmann

(CBS News) There was another huge rally Monday night in Sanford, Florida, where a neighborhood watch captain shot and killed an unarmed teenager one month ago.

Thousands have gathered outside a city commission meeting to demand an arrest in the case.

CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports that the civic center room where the city commission met holds 600 people, but it was not big enough. So the city set up a jumbotron outside for the overflow crowd, who showed up to demand answers in the shooting that set off a national firestorm.

Trayvon Martin's parents met for the first time on Monday with investigators working with the special prosecutor appointed by Florida's governor.

Angela Corey is a Florida state attorney with a reputation being a tough prosecutor and an expert in homicide cases. She's charged with reviewing what critics complain was a botched, racist investigation by the Sanford Police Department.

"This is what we're experienced in and this is what we do," Corey said.

Her investigation mandate "includes the power to arrest, to empanel the grand jury to hear evidence and the power to handle this case in all of its relevant aspects."

George Zimmerman, a crime watch captain, says he fatally shot Martin in self-defense. He remains free.

No witness actually saw their deadly confrontation. Carey told CBS News her team plans to hire a voice recognition expert to figure out whether Zimmerman or Martin was yelling for help on a 911 tape.

"We intend to do everything we possibly can. The family will get answers," Corey said.

Zimmerman has hired a defense lawyer and authorized friends to speak on his behalf. One of them is Joe Oliver, who says Zimmerman told him this weekend he has cried repeatedly about taking Martin's life.

"We don't know what happened from the time George got out of his vehicle and the time the gun went off, but I can tell you race had nothing to do with it," Oliver said.

Right before his death, Martin's Miami-area high school had suspended him for two weeks. His family reluctantly confirmed the reason: a baggie, found in his book bag, had marijuana residue. Martin's parents say it's irrelevant and blame Sanford Police for leaking the information.

"They've killed my son and now they're trying to kill his reputation," Trayvon's mother said.

The same leak reported that in their fight, Martin knocked Zimmerman to the ground with one punch, and began bashing his head against the sidewalk. That's when Zimmerman fired his nine-millimeter.

Sanford Police say the leak was unauthorized, and have started an internal investigation.

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc.


Unbelievable that in a homicide investigation, the police take a statement that describes his head being pounded into concrete, and there is no hospital report. Was EMS at the scene; did anyone even check out Zimmerman to see if he was OK?

[ZonaPutaX]

One "up-dated" news report from the Orlando Sentinel states that Zimmerman was checked out on the scene by paramedics, and then left unaided.

Another news account from the Orlando Sentinel that states that the cops took his gun: "a black Kel Tec 9 mm PF9, a semiautomatic. The gun is now in the possession of authorities"

[soipguibbom]

All the local news outlets on my cable feed are Orlando stations, so just hours after George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin there were a few moments devoted to it on the 11 o'clock shows--with a reporter "on scene" just outside the security gates--and the next day it was mentioned that Zimmerman remains free because of Florida's "stand your ground" law. To me, it was a local story, just like the sleazy Casey Anthony saga was last year.
Sanford is only 90 minutes away ( if I make all the traffic lights), and I used to have to go there often for Home-Office stuff, so I know the neighborhood. A former farm-and-trailer-park town, now just another I-4 Orlando suburb. I flew out of there once, on JetBlue.

The end of the Zimmerman/Martin story came very soon for news junkies, like by the next day's news cycle. After a couple days it just went away, supplanted by fresh shootings and other sensational happenings and around Orlando.
The story rose again about ten days ago with a ferocity and it had become a national story, headlining every network and cable news show and absorbing hours of speculation and wild ideas among the talking heads about what really happened. The Sunday "Tampa Bay Times", my "local" paper, had a BIG Headline front-page story (reproduced above), the Orlando TV stations held an all-day feed of the big rally in Sanford last week (starring Al Sharpton) -- I watched Sanford's police chief resign--LIVE!!!--and Jesse Jackson mumbled his way through a half-hour speech, carried live on all four local channels the other day. I'm overwhelmed by endless stories about the incident.

The only inforrmation I have about the shooting is what I'm being told by the media, and the media keeps on telling me pretty much the same things, endlessly.
Frankly, I'm already tired of the story.

[WapSaibiar]

If you are carrying a gun and patrolling a neighborhood and are not a cop... well, we call those vigilantes.

And I love the term "gated community".... it's a cute way of saying "an enclave surrounded by a wall designed to keep out undesirables".

-----

Some questions: From what I understand, the victim was inside of the "gated community". Did he have a key or pass or whatever to get in? If not, how did he get in and what was he doing there? If you are in the gated community without being a resident or guest, are you breaking the law?

[timmybrown]

To me, it was a local story, just like the sleazy Casey Anthony saga was last year.

At least 20 states have some form of a Stand Your Ground law. That a possible murder or manslaughter has gone uncharged because of the existence of the law in Florida has national implications.

Alaska:

The end of the Zimmerman/Martin story came very soon for news junkies, like by the next day's news cycle. After a couple days it just went away, supplanted by fresh shootings and other sensational happenings and around Orlando.

The story should have stayed buried because of all the other crime in the area?

[XIMHOTEP-X]

Even within Florida, there doesn't seem to be a standard code regulating how neighborhood patrol groups should operate.

WEST PALM BEACH — On a day when thousands marched in Sanford to protest the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin by a volunteer neighborhood watchman, West Palm Beach acting police co-chief Bryan Kummerlen assured commissioners that a similar incident won't happen here.

"Citizen observers have no authority and will not carry any type of weapon while working in a citizen observer patrol program, even if they are licensed to do so," Kummerlen said at a commission workshop on Monday. "Even if they have a license to carry a firearm, they still can't. They can't carry knives." http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/st...e-2263049.html

In NYC, the unpaid Auxiliary Police, who are attached to the NYPD and uniformed, don't carry handguns.

[resegooredo]

George Zimmerman, a crime watch captain, says he fatally shot Martin in self-defense. Sorry, I may have missed this somewhere, but in self-defence of what exactly? What did Trayvon Martin do to Zimmerman to justify self-defence?

Not to mention what the hell people in Zimmerman's position are doing with a gun. That's not to say shooting one's neighbours is not tempting at times.

“If prosecutors don't have the evidence to disprove the claim of self-defense, they won't be able to win.” What about evidence from the defence to prove it? Goddess help us.

“Even if you have suspicions about what motivated this, and you think there was a racial element and no justification for this shooting, the fact is he had no obligation to retreat under the law,” If he was genuinely afraid for his safety, common sense should've dictated retreat, which he was clearly able to do. There was a different agenda here.

"Stand your ground", "Duty to retreat" . The law is an (obstructive) ass.

[nanyaHgoc]

The Colbert Report

[frkksptn]

Zippy

"The story, [which} should have been buried..?", as you pointed out in a lightly sarcastic manner, was really smothered by the passage of time and the endless creation of ever newer stories that TV news depends upon to remain contemporary. Like the leaves from a tree, NEW stories about atrocities, gang violence, shootings, DUI killings, c-store robberies and the like, fell daily from the news tree and simply buried the Zimmerman/ Martin leaf from sunlight. Each of those stories had their moment on the ground before new newsleaves fell, and each had some major importance to someone, somewhere. Perhaps some of them should be dragged out of the pile and looked at again. Maybe there are dozens of Zimmerman/Martin-like stories still buried, forever obscure after only a few moments exposure to the light.
But, if we are going to do this we should hurry. New leaves are falling, endlessly falling.
And Casey Anthony had nothing to do with "stand your ground". She employed the "lie like a rug" defense and won her case, despite overwhelming evidence suggesting that she murdered her kid.

When yesterday's news stories one day arise from the leaf pile and make their ghosts known again, like OJ or Osama--and now the Z/M story-- then THAT is the real news.

[HootSnori]

A couple of interesting tidbits. Just as background, what's been coming out is that after Zimmerman left his car, he got into an altercation with Martin. In the altercation, Martin punched Zimmerman hard enough to slam him to the ground, then got on top if him, and started slamming Zimmerman's head into the sidewalk. Somewhere in this, Zimmerman is able to pull his gun and shoot Martin.

Now here are a couple of applicable parts of FL self defense statutes. First the "Stand Your Ground" part of the law:

776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—

(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Personally I don't think this is so applicable. It's not so much as Zimmerman didn't retreat as much as he advanced. But he did have a right to be in the location where the fight took place.

Okay, the next one.

776.041 Use of force by aggressor. —The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:

(2) Initially provokes the use of force against himself or herself, unless:

(a) Such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant;
I think what Zimmerman did qualifed as prevoking the use of force. However, the law gives him an out here. If he had been knocked to the ground, and, as has been suggested, Martin was on top of him, slamming head against the sidewalk, it could very well satisfy the second clause.

This may be why the police/prosecutors haven't acted. But if that is the case, the need to explain this.

[Colorostikse]

A news report about Zimmerman's claims about the events:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...black-teenager

Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head

7:36 p.m. EST, March 26, 2012| By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel



With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered, law-enforcement authorities told the Orlando Sentinel.
That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say. There have been no reports that a witness saw the initial punch Zimmerman told police about.
Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about what happened Feb. 26. But that night, and in later meetings, he described and re-enacted for police what he says took place.
In his version of events, Zimmerman had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, the two exchanged words and then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.





Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense.
Civil-rights leaders and more than a million other people have demanded Zimmerman's arrest, calling Trayvon a victim of racial profiling and suggesting Zimmerman is a vigilante.
Trayvon was an unarmed black teenager who had committed no crime, they say, who was gunned down while walking back from a 7-Eleven with nothing more sinister than a package of Skittles and can of Arizona iced tea.
Zimmerman's account
This is what the Sentinel has learned about Zimmerman's account to investigators:
He said he was on his way to the grocery store when he spotted Trayvon walking through his gated community.



Trayvon was visiting his father's fiancée, who lived there. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie. Miami schools have a zero-tolerance policy for drug possession.
Police have been reluctant to provide details about their evidence.
But after the Sentinel story appeared online Monday morning, City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. issued a news release, saying there would be an internal-affairs investigation into the source of the leak and, if identified, the person or people involved would be disciplined.
He did not challenge the accuracy of the information.
At a Monday news conference, Trayvon's mother, father and their lawyers called the report that their son was suspended from school because of a marijuana baggie irrelevant and needlessly hurtful.
Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, said "even in death, they are still disrespecting my son, and I feel that that's a sin."
His mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, "They killed my son, and now they're trying to kill his reputation."
Supporters have held rallies in Sanford, Miami, New York and Tallahassee, calling the case a tragic miscarriage of justice.
Civil-rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton headlined a rally in Sanford on Thursday that drew an estimated 8,000 people. The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Sunday spoke at an Eatonville church, where he called Trayvon a martyr.
Zimmerman has gone into hiding. A fringe group, the New Black Panther Party, has offered a $10,000 reward for his "capture."
One-minute gap
On Feb. 26, when Zimmerman first spotted Trayvon, he called police and reported a suspicious person, describing Trayvon as black, acting strangely and perhaps on drugs.
Zimmerman got out of his SUV to follow Trayvon on foot. When a dispatch employee asked Zimmerman if he was following the 17-year-old, Zimmerman said yes. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he did not need to do that.
There is about a one-minute gap during which police say they're not sure what happened.
Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.
Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police. Trayvon then said, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose, according to the account he gave police.
Zimmerman fell to the ground and Trayvon got on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk, he told police.
Zimmerman began yelling for help.
Several witnesses heard those cries, and there has been a dispute about whether they came from Zimmerman or Trayvon.
Lawyers for Trayvon's family say it was Trayvon, but police say their evidence indicates it was Zimmerman.
One witness, who has since talked to local television news reporters, told police he saw Zimmerman on the ground with Trayvon on top, pounding him — and was unequivocal that it was Zimmerman who was crying for help.
Zimmerman then shot Trayvon once in the chest at very close range, according to authorities.
When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had bloody lacerations to the back of his head.
Paramedics gave him first aid but he said he did not need to go to the hospital. He got medical care the next day.
Copyright © 2012, Orlando Sentinel

[JohnfAclambrJA]

Like the leaves from a tree, NEW stories about atrocities, gang violence, shootings, DUI killings, c-store robberies and the like, fell daily from the news tree and simply buried the Zimmerman/ Martin leaf from sunlight. Each of those stories had their moment on the ground before new newsleaves fell, and each had some major importance to someone, somewhere. Perhaps some of them should be dragged out of the pile and looked at again.

It's been one whole month.

But, if we are going to do this we should hurry. New leaves are falling, endlessly falling. A disturbing rationalization for an possible unsolved crime. Would you want the leaves to cover the body of your own son?

And Casey Anthony had nothing to do with "stand your ground". She employed the "lie like a rug" defense and won her case, despite overwhelming evidence suggesting that she murdered her kid. I don't know why you're telling me about Casey Anthony. I never mentioned her, nor did anyone else; you brought her up. Why?