# Why hasn't the Neighborhood Watch shooter been arrested? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504 "2012-03-12T00:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 165
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3281 "2012-04-06T22:07:06Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Gee I dunno. So they would know who he was sooner? With no ID on him and his dad and his girlfriend being out on a date and not coming home till much later, and the phone supposedly locked, how were they supposed to do that? ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3282 "2012-04-06T22:07:40Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > This makes the cops look even worse. They obviously did not try to use his phone to ID him by calling 911. They apparently just sat on this piece of evidence for 5 days like idiots. They IDed him the next day when Tracey Martin called 911 and they took Trayvon’s picture over to him. I don’t necessarily disagree with the idiot part. You can’t expect a place like Sanford to attract first class help. I hope they do better on the kid shot Sunday or the three people shot last week. [http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-06/news/os-drive-by-shooting-victim-mother-20120406\_1\_drive-by-shooting-police-station-mother](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-06/news/os-drive-by-shooting-victim-mother-20120406_1_drive-by-shooting-police-station-mother) ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3283 "2012-04-06T22:36:47Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Also, if Zimmerman struck him first he would have knocked Martin silly with the first punch with the extra 100 lbs. If you swing and miss, it’s still an attack. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3284 "2012-04-06T22:49:31Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There have been such allegations, but I’m unaware what any investigation of that would have to do with the the Martin case. The FBI is gathering information to determine whether or not a Federal case can be made against Zimmerman, not the question of whether or not the Sanford police fucked up their initial investigation. [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/trayvon-martin-case-department-of-justice-to-investigate-2266580.html](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/trayvon-martin-case-department-of-justice-to-investigate-2266580.html) Trayvon Martin Case: **Department of Justice to investigate entire Sanford police** [INDENT] Updated: 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Posted: 9:43 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 The Trayvon Martin case is bringing more scrutiny on the Sanford Police Department. The Department of Justice will now investigate all cases handled by the police department, after receiving complaints from Sanford citizens.[/INDENT] ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3285 "2012-04-06T22:49:48Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > If you swing and miss, it’s still an attack. Or just grab Martin by the arm. That justifies a poke in the beezer. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3286 "2012-04-06T23:29:05Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I guess you never dealt with police investigations before. They already knew who Trayvon was on day 2, so there was no urgency there. And I am a geek and I know of no method to unlock a password-protected phone other than taking it to the service provider (or trying to guess the password). Sanford doesn’t have a cell phone retail outlet or three? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3287 "2012-04-06T23:40:21Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/trayvon-martin-case-department-of-justice-to-investigate-2266580.html](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/trayvon-martin-case-department-of-justice-to-investigate-2266580.html) > > Trayvon Martin Case: **Department of Justice to investigate entire Sanford police** > [INDENT] > Updated: 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 > Posted: 9:43 a.m. Wednesday, March 28, 2012 > > The Trayvon Martin case is bringing more scrutiny on the Sanford Police Department. The Department of Justice will now investigate all cases handled by the police department, after receiving complaints from Sanford citizens.[/INDENT] Thanks for that link – it’s new news for me. The article notes that DOJ hasn’t made any such announcement yet ( or hadn’t at the time of the story). ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3288 "2012-04-06T23:40:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Sanford doesn’t have a cell phone retail outlet or three? I assume it would be fairly easy to return the device to factory settings, but then you end up wiping the data you want. I don’t claim to be an expert in this area, but I assume, or at least hope, cracking a phone password isn’t something a small town police department can do in a couple hours. BTW, anyone else lamenting the fact that we don’t have Diogenes making half the posts in this thread telling everyone how wrong they are? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3289 "2012-04-06T23:42:18Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Yes, we know Zimmerman was following Martin. Martin was the first to initiate the conversation asking why Zimmerman was following him. We know that’s what Martin’s girlfriend heard first. > [@](#): > > The reason I think Martin struck first is that he was a 17 year old kid who is statistically more likely to act without thinking and he had just been insulted on a perceived racial level. You’ve a right to think that, but it’s not something you know or can even be very sure of. It is, frankly, a wild-assed guess. It may be 51% likely Martin struck first, it may be 19%, it may be 77%. I see no difference at all between your WAG and simply not knowing. My WAG is Zimmerman assaulted Martin first, probably by grabbing him. I based that on his history of violence and temper problems, and what we know of his angry, suspicious state of mind shortly before the shooting. My wild assed guess is just as valid as yours. > [@](#): > > Also, if Zimmerman struck him first he would have knocked Martin silly with the first punch with the extra 100 lbs. I’ve been on the receiving end of that extra weight and it’s amazing how much damage someone can do with the extra mass. I like how everyone in the thread is an expert in martial arts when it comes to explaining how the physical altercation went, an altercation witnessed in whole by no person on Earth except the shooter. First of all, who says Zimmerman had to HIT Martin? According to my WAG, he grabbed Martin, which is criminal battery and which doesn’t require knocking anyone to the ground. Secondly, if you think it’s certain that Zimmerman would have sent Martin sprawling with a punch… well, you’re just plainly, obviously wrong. That just isn’t something you can know, especially when dealing with people who are not trained fighters, which neither person, AFAIK, was. Fights between ordinary joes are often clumsy, silly affairs. If George Zimmerman doesn’t know how to throw a punch, and most men do not, he could get very little weight behind the punch. Or he could, you know, miss, or just graze Martin or hit his shoulder or something. Or he could have decked Martin, stopped in shock when he realized what he’d done, and Martin could have gotten up. Or, like I said, maybe he didn’t punch at all; maybe he grabbed him, or shoved him. **I don’t know and neither do you.** > [@](#): > > If Zimmerman attacked Martin he would have done so knowing the police were very close to arriving. Beating up a kid, regardless of whether or not he was caught in the middle of stealing, has consequences as an adult. Maybe George Zimmerman’s an idiot. Maybe he lost his temper. (He is, after all, a young man himself.) We know he has been known to lose his head in physical altercations before. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3290 "2012-04-06T23:56:29Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Sanford doesn’t have a cell phone retail outlet or three? What could the cell phone retail outlet have done? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3291 "2012-04-07T00:02:03Z")
> [@treis](#): > > BTW, anyone else lamenting the fact that we don’t have Diogenes making half the posts in this thread telling everyone how wrong they are? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3292 "2012-04-07T00:10:26Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > With no ID on him and his dad and his girlfriend being out on a date and not coming home till much later, and the phone supposedly locked, how were they supposed to do that? By dialling 911 and getting his phone number. Which they did do - but not until five days later. Since you’ve just been posting about this, it’s odd that you’ve forgotten. Even if it wasn’t necessary for ID, you’d think it’d be useful for checking out possible witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3293 "2012-04-07T00:11:27Z")
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/george-zimmerman-shaken-baby\_n\_1408421.html](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/george-zimmerman-shaken-baby_n_1408421.html) My reaction on reading this, is even if the attorney is working pro bono, he is getting paid too much. > [@](#): > > Hal Uhrig, a lawyer and former Gainesville, Florida, police officer who recently joined Zimmerman’s defense team, cited in a TV interview the brain damage that can seriously injure or kill an infant. > > His point, which has been made before, was that Zimmerman contends he shot Martin in self defense and feared for his life after the 17-year-old attacked him and began pounding his head into the concrete pavement of a gated community on a rainy evening in Sanford on Feb. 26. > > But Uhrig’s choice of words, and use of a recognized sign of child abuse to defend a 28-year-old man who killed a kid, seemed likely to raise more than just a few eyebrows. > > “We’re familiar with the Shaken Baby Syndrome,” said Uhrig on the CBS This Morning program. “You shake a baby, the brain shakes around inside the skull. You can die when someone’s pounding your head into the ground.” ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3294 "2012-04-07T00:11:50Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > By dialling 911 and getting his phone number. Which they did do - but not until five days later. Since you’ve just been posting about this, it’s odd that you’ve forgotten. > > Even if it wasn’t necessary for ID, you’d think it’d be useful for checking out possible witnesses. Because cops are sooooo technologically savvy. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3295 "2012-04-07T00:15:38Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Because cops are sooooo technologically savvy. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to know that you can dial 911 even if your phone’s locked. And really, cops would be _more_ likely to know that than the average person. Surely one single person on their team had this basic piece of info? Obviously somebody did within those five days. This is not rocket surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3296 "2012-04-07T00:26:58Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > You don’t have to be tech-savvy to know that you can dial 911 even if your phone’s locked. And really, cops would be _more_ likely to know that than the average person. Surely one single person on their team had this basic piece of info? Obviously somebody did within those five days. This is not rocket surgery. Betcha more than half the posters that read my post about it didn’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3297 "2012-04-07T00:52:49Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Betcha more than half the posters that read my post about it didn’t know it. They aren’t police officers. Honestly, I have a lot of trouble seeing how it’s realistic to think that a police department would have a cell phone belonging to the victim of a homicide and wouldn’t know what to do about it, wouldn’t even think to ask someone who would know. They’re just sitting around with the phone saying “Gosh, we have this thingy here, what should we do? What’s that, Cletus? We should just sit around doing nothing with it?” Sanford isn’t a big town but it’s not frickin’ Mayberry. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3298 "2012-04-07T00:57:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Betcha more than half the posters that read my post about it didn’t know it. I didn’t know that, but I do recall reading that you can call 911 even if you don’t have cell phone service. I my defense, I can say that I’ve never called 911. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3299 "2012-04-07T01:02:00Z")
[We now have the first media casualty of the Zimmerman/Martin incident.](http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nbc-fires-producer-of-misleading-zimmerman-tape/) NBC has fired a producer for creating a misleading edit of Zimmerman’s 911 call that aired in the _Today_ show. Zimmerman actually said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.” When the dispatcher asks him for a description, and asks the suspect’s race, he said, “He looks black.” The the tape was edited to portray him saying, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black." ---
**Author:** ![PotLuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@PotLuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PotLuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/3300 "2012-04-07T01:42:54Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [We now have the first media casualty of the Zimmerman/Martin incident.](http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nbc-fires-producer-of-misleading-zimmerman-tape/) NBC has fired a producer for creating a misleading edit of Zimmerman’s 911 call that aired in the _Today_ show. Good. This situation is ugly enough without deliberately muddying the waters. Back to Martin’s cell phone, I wonder if the Sanford police thought to check it for pictures, video or texts pertinent to the case. If not, there is indeed a whiff of Mayberry in the air. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504.md?page=164) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504.md?page=166)