# 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:** 79
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1561 "2012-03-24T05:35:45Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I mentioned that **if the prosecutor was telling police they lacked evidence for conviction** then the police are receiving more of the blame than is probably fair; at least in terms of deciding to arrest versus not deciding to arrest (which appears to be the greatest controversy in this case.) > > In that **scenario** the PR missteps would the greatest fault in how the police had handled this. > > I’ve said probably since page one of this very long thread that there is a potential the police handled the actual investigation incompetently. However, I’m loathe to jump on bandwagons criticizing police performance on half-information. I’ve seen too many cases where police get crucified over half-information. > > So far, the only two things I’ve personally seen which show me a strong indicator of missteps are: > > 1. If it is truly common police procedure to ascertain whether or not someone involved in a self-defense (claimed) shooting was intoxicated, and that was never done with Zimmerman, that is a sign of a significant misstep. > > 2. If it is truly the case that the police had no idea Trayvon was on the phone with his girlfriend very shortly before the incident, until weeks later when she came forward to the media, that shows they didn’t fully pursue everything in this case, namely that they had never looked at even the call log on the phone. Back in the day you had to actually go to the phone company to get call records, but now with cell phones they actually only had to look on the cell phone itself and see when the last call came in / was received and how long it lasted. I suppose if the phone had a screen lock they may not have been able to do that without the phone company, though. I agree those are the two biggest areas that need to be explained. But there is a question about witness tampering, if that’s what it is called. At least one witness has indicated that she was corrected by the detective when giving her account. She has come forward with this allegation; I suppose we will be encouraged to ignore this, since it has not been corroborated? But then why should we believe what any of them have to say? All of the witnesses could be lying, right? And then there is the allegation that the detective was heard asking Zimmerman potentially leading questions at the scene. Did someone make _this_ up out of whole cloth? Would the PD ever admit that this happened? Perhaps it’s not really that big of a deal…although it seems to me in a case that rests almost exclusively on Zimmerman’s word, it would be. Simply asking him, “You didn’t chase this kid, did you?” could give Zimmerman all he needs to know to craft a good story. I don’t know how situations like this work, though. It would seem strange for the police not to ask Zimmerman any questions right then and there at the scene. But maybe it is customary to immediately haul confessed killers down to the precinct to get their statement down on paper and recorded, with no idle chitchat beforehand. I don’t know. Seems to me that if it is, this accusation shouldn’t be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1562 "2012-03-24T05:38:21Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The law EXPLICITLY addresses that and says the use of deadly force at that time is allowed. See [http://law.onecle.com/florida/crimes/776.041.html](http://law.onecle.com/florida/crimes/776.041.html) If Zimmerman is the aggressor he has to satisfy a couple conditions before he can use deadly force.. It says so right in your cite. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1563 "2012-03-24T05:39:28Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > If I get into a fight with a cop and pull a knife, it would be reasonable for me to fear for my life, but it does not negate the fact that had I not engaged in reckless and violent behavior, my life would not be at risk. > [@Terr](#): > > The law EXPLICITLY addresses that and says the use of deadly force at that time is allowed. See [http://law.onecle.com/florida/crimes/776.041.html](http://law.onecle.com/florida/crimes/776.041.html) Looks to me like you are saying that in madmonk’s scenario, if, by some miracle, he managed to actually kill a police officer with a knife in that situation, he would be exonerated? BEcause what, a jury would agree that of the two options, applying deadly force and backing off, _killing_ the police officer was even _equally_ reasonable to backing off? _ **Really** _? It’s not as though the law is saying either one is ok, you know, it’s very much dependent on the totality of the circumstances, and in madmonk’s scenario I’d bet everything I have that the jury would find that it was not at all reasonable for madmonk to kill a police officer with whom he was struggling as a result of his own aggression. I think that the jury would find that the more reasonable course of action would have been to drop his weapon and say “I surrender”, and his choice to kill the police officer was unacceptable. Same here: Martin did nothing wrong, Zimmerman basically fantasized that the kid might be threatening, and scared the kid into defending himself against a reasonable perception that Zimmerman was a threat. Given the fact that Zimmerman outweighed him by a hundred pounds and Martin did not have any kind of weapon, Zimmerman’s choice to shoot him in the chest and kill him was excessive and unnecessary, especially since he did have the gun, which he could have turned to as a kind of “nuclear option” if Martin somehow managed to become a genuine threat to Zimmerman’s life. But getting punched out wasn’t going to kill him, and he could have punched back. > [@](#): > > **Regardless of the Stand Your Ground Rule, the Force Must Be Proportional to the Threat** > > Even if the stand your ground rule applied in this case, it would not preclude arresting or even convicting Zimmerman. Any use of lethal force must be proportional to the threat. Under Florida law, this means that regardless of whether he was the aggressor, Zimmerman must have reasonably believed that his life was in danger or that he would suffer serious bodily injury. Martin, however, was unarmed, while Zimmerman had a gun. Martin is 100 pounds smaller than Zimmerman. Witnesses say that Martin was screaming for help. Martin’s girlfriend says that he was trying to escape Zimmerman (not vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1564 "2012-03-24T05:52:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No. Because as an American citizen, I have the right to approach you on the street and ask you questions, without any particular legal authority. As long as you are free to disregard my questions, I have not infringed on any of your rights… So, you are arguing that any citizen has the right to chase down and question any other citizen and that it is not reasonable for the citizen being chased (by someon with a gun) to feel threatened by this behavior? I am then going to assume that you would be okay with the Black Panthers dispatching armed members to largley affluent white neighborhoods to question passersby as long as the people being questioned are not compelled to answer? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1565 "2012-03-24T06:09:16Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I stand by that unequivocally because I believe that is what is happening. “Black outrage” is a serious thing in politics. Ever since the civil rights movement there have been many incidents in which the black community has responded to things with massive protests that are primarily about grievances the black community has against something or about some perceived/real injustice perpetrated against a black person by “the white man.” > > When this happens, it brings out common clownish characters like Al Sharpton and et al., but it also has real political impact. That’s not an intrinsically bad thing. In a democracy it’s actually a good thing, the reason race is important is precisely because most politicians these days, white or black, are deathly afraid of being viewed as racist. The ones who actually are racist are probably more afraid of being found out as a genuine racist than the ones who aren’t racist are of being perceived incorrectly as racist. So often times if you have an issue that ignites the black community it gets a great deal of political attention, more so than it would if it ignited say, the gay community. Sorry, but it sounds like you have an axe to grind here. Yeah, this issue has made a lot of black people angry, but it is crazy to pretend that race is not a potential factor and that they are getting angry because that’s just what they do best. The cavalier behavior shown towards the victim and his family is not just a mere PR blunder. It, like Zimmerman’s actions, feeds into the idea that Martin is getting the “same ole, same ole” treatment that has always been associated with people of his demographic in this country. It would actually take a great leap of faith to conclude that there was never any bias involved. Not only do I not think Martin would be dead right now if he had been a white kid, but I don’t think the police would have jumped to Martin’s defense in the way they did Zimmerman, if the tables had been turned. This is not only a race thing, but also a “good ole boy” thing. That is what the police told the family. That Zimmerman is a “good ole boy” and therefore credible. They said this without even knowing his criminal background. Just because one doesn’t have to be white to be in the “good ole boy” network doesn’t mean it’s fair. > [@](#): > > But that is fine, that’s what politics is all about in a democracy. A bunch of people from a minority group get mad, make noise about it, get attention, something gets done. Sometimes. > > That’s fine when the “something gets done” is something like a bad law gets overturned or a racist politician or government official gets shamed out of office. But I’m not comfortable at all when this force is used to alter how the State investigates someone, especially when that someone is a Hispanic guy and the angry citizens are blacks going at him because one of their own is killed. To me that is a scary sort of “tribal justice” thing in which the blacks got really loud and angry so the State is now going at Zimmerman hard to appease the blacks. It’s also scary even if race wasn’t involved at all, because whether stand your ground laws are good or bad I don’t think it’s consistent with a truly fair justice system is Zimmerman goes to prison when dozens of other cases in Florida with similar scenarios (some even more egregious scenarios) have not resulted in anyone going to jail. There’s a lot of bullshit craziness in this comment, but I don’t care enough to pick it apart. Suffice it say, though, there are a whole lot of people who apparently care about this. Even conservatives who have not been great fans of “the blacks” have weighed in against both the police department and the law. Who are they “appeasing”? A group of people who have absolutely no interest in voting for them? Or maybe there’s enough stuff that went wrong with this case to make everyone just a little disgusted. I think it’s kind of ironic but in a beautiful way that although racial bias may have been in the mix regarding Martin’s death, race does not seem to be affecting people’s assessment of this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1566 "2012-03-24T06:16:03Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > If Zimmerman is the aggressor he has to satisfy a couple conditions before he can use deadly force.. It says so right in your cite. Right. And when someone is sitting on you, beating you bloody, with the resulting gash on the head and a broken nose, those conditions are satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1567 "2012-03-24T06:18:05Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Looks to me like you are saying that in madmonk’s scenario, if, by some miracle, he managed to actually kill a police officer with a knife in that situation, he would be exonerated? BEcause what, a jury would agree that of the two options, applying deadly force and backing off, _killing_ the police officer was even _equally_ reasonable to backing off? _ **Really** _? IIRC, the law doesn’t apply against police officers. > [@](#): > > But getting punched out wasn’t going to kill him, and he could have punched back. People are getting killed all the time from being “punched out”. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1568 "2012-03-24T06:34:16Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Right. And when someone is sitting on you, beating you bloody, with the resulting gash on the head and a broken nose, those conditions are satisfied. We don’t know if either 776.041(2)(a) or (b) has ben met. Austin said, according to ABC news, they were seperated. That was Zimmerman’s chance to “escape such danger.” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1569 "2012-03-24T06:34:27Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Right. And when someone is sitting on you, beating you bloody, with the resulting gash on the head and a broken nose, those conditions are satisfied. You can’t have it both ways._If_ Zimmerman is the agressor, then Martin has the right to “stand his ground” and subdue his assailant. Surely Martin would have been within his self-defense rights if he punched Zimmerman to death. ---
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1570 "2012-03-24T06:51:51Z")
A question directed to the criminal law lawyers that have stepped into this thread: [This](http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/23/justice/florida-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) CNN article quotes Zimmerman’s lawyer as saying that his client is cooperating, evidenced by the fact that Zimmerman is cooperating with law enforcement in questioning _without legal counsel present._ It is unclear from the article if this is something that Zimmerman is choosing to do on his own or if he counsel is advising this approach. However, the way Zimmerman’s counsel discusses Zimmerman’s unaccompanied questioning makes it sound as though he at least tacitly approves. How in the world is this a good thing and why is the lawyer discussing it so casually? Who is telling this guy he should be talking to the investigators without a lawyer present? Or is there something else I am missing? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1571 "2012-03-24T07:01:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > This is gives the police more than enough reason to arrest him, if this is what he said happened. **No.** The police will now almost certainly wait until the DA gets done with the Grand Jury. Unless Zimmerman turns into a flight risk (which is very unlikely as he’s quite possibly in protective custody) they need to wait until the Grand Jury finishes their deliberations and decides what charges to bring. No matter how much new evidence come up, etc. More or less, it is now out of the hands of the Police. A Grand Jury has been called, it’s now in their hands. Really, you folks just do not understand how the justice system works in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1572 "2012-03-24T07:06:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Really good question. > > Unlike the blood still in his body, Zimmerman abandoned his possessory interest in any blood that was wiped away or caught in a discarded bandage. So from a Fourth Amendment perspective, that blood is open season. > > I defer to someone who knows about the science of it to answer how useful that kind f blood sample might be. But from a legal vantage point, that blood is abandoned and the police can test it as they please. From what little I know, it’s now pretty tainted and many tests can’t be made on it. DNA could of course. I was actually assuming that’s what Martin wanted the blood for, but he seems to want to run other tests? Zimmerman was likely given medical care, they likely ran tests then. Those will be shown to the GJ if they are relevant. Is that want you want, martin? I am confused about what you think the blood may show. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1573 "2012-03-24T07:12:59Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > People are getting killed all the time from being “punched out”. People are getting killed all the time from guns. If Martin caught just a glimpse of that gun, it just might have been enough to make him think “fight for all your life!” The question that I think is important is, if both of them were alive and claiming self-defense, who would I believe had a more reasonable cause to be afraid? Martin doesn’t really have to concoct a complicated story to explain why he’d be afraid. Just seeing that gun would be enough for anyone to crap their pants. But for Zimmerman’s claim to believed, we gotta have a lot of information. Like, why would he be afraid? Did he see Martin with a weapon? Did Martin threaten him verbally? When Martin punched him, was it in response to something Zimmerman had done (like trying to grab him after a hot pursuit). Or did Martin ambush him from behind? How could he do such a thing, when Zimmerman had presumably been following him? Why would he do such a thing when he wasn’t armed and had no motive? Martin doesn’t have to explain much. I would want to know if Zimmerman really did chase him and if so, what did he do once they made contact. And I’d want to know if he saw the gun before or after he started wailing on Zimmerman. But that’s about it. Zimmerman would have to spend a little bit more time in the room with me. He could very well have perfectly believable answers to all of my questions. But I’m not just going to accept his word that it was self-defense without making sure there’s no unexplained “WTF?” in his story. I hope the police had the same goal in mind when they questioned him. So the one who has the simplest defense to make is dead. The question is: do we continue to solicit answers from Zimmerman until his story hits a certain level of credibility compared to the defense the dead person would likely provide, given the known facts? Or do we assume that Zimmerman’s account is the most likely one since it is the only one that exists…and then work to disprove it? I hope the police, as they collected evidence from the crime scene, considered the possibility that Martin might have had good reason to wail on Zimmerman. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1574 "2012-03-24T07:28:18Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > You can’t have it both ways._If_ Zimmerman is the agressor, then Martin has the right to “stand his ground” and subdue his assailant. Surely Martin would have been within his self-defense rights if he punched Zimmerman to death. If Martin was in fear of his life, yes. And if Zimmerman was in fear for his life, he was within his rights to shoot Martin. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1575 "2012-03-24T08:07:22Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > If Martin was in fear of his life, yes. And if Zimmerman was in fear for his life, he was within his rights to shoot Martin. Who had the more reasonable fear, the armed guy or the un-armed guy? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1576 "2012-03-24T08:08:35Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > If Martin was in fear of his life, yes. And if Zimmerman was in fear for his life, he was within his rights to shoot Martin. So your understanding would be that when the serial killer rapist is raping and strangling his victim, and she manages to to grab a knife and raises it to stab him, but he manages to grab it from her and instead plunges it into her heart and kills her, he’s in the clear. Okee dokee. Thank god you aren’t making the rules… ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1577 "2012-03-24T08:37:54Z")
It depends, was the rape victim wearing a hoodie? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1578 "2012-03-24T11:41:48Z")
A witness has emerged that saw Martin attack Zimmerman. I recall the very early reports saying Zimmerman had head wounds from a fight. The big question is why have the cops been sitting on this information? Why allow this story to blow up and become national news? We won’t have any real answers until the grand jury. > [@](#): > > What Sanford Police investigators have in the folder, they put together on the killing of Trayvon Martin few know about. The file now sits in the hands of the state attorney. Now that file is just weeks away from being opened to a grand jury. It shows more now about why police believed that night that George Zimmerman shouldn’t have gone to jail. Zimmerman called 911 and told dispatchers he was following a teen. The dispatcher told Zimmerman not to.And from that moment to the shooting, details are few. But one man’s testimony could be key for the police. > > “The guy on the bottom who had a red sweater on was yelling to me: 'help, help…and I told him to stop and I was calling 911,” he said. > > Trayvon Martin was in a hoodie; Zimmerman was in red. The witness only wanted to be identified as “John,” and didn’t not want to be shown on camera. > > His statements to police were instrumental, because police backed up Zimmerman’s claims, saying those screams on the 911 call are those of Zimmerman. > **[FOX 13 Tampa Bay | Local News, Weather, and Live Streams | WTVT](https://www.fox13news.com/)** > > Tampa Bay area news, weather, radar, sports, traffic, live newscasts, and more. From WTVT-TV FOX 13 News in Tampa, home of SkyTower Radar. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1579 "2012-03-24T12:12:15Z")
I will admit my immediate reaction was that Zimmerman should be in jail, and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t. But an armed man stalking an unarmed teen is apparently perfectly legal. We can say “Martin found himself being chased by an armed man and naturally fought back” but if it is perfectly legal for an armed man to chase you, then this common sense doesn’t work. If it is legal to go around chasing people armed, then it cannot also be ok to take the fact that someone is armed and chasing you as a statement of violent aggression. That has to be true, right? Therefore, to me, it comes down to what actual physical confrontation Zimmerman initiated, or what he said to threaten. Not chasing. Not being armed. If he chased and GRABBED Martin before shooting him, no way in hell can I buy his defense. If he threatened or said any slurs, no chance. But if he was following him without saying anything like that and Martin turned around and attacked his armed stalker, then even though I completely understand why Martin would do so, I think the law could be on Zimmerman’s side. Of course, that is only one aspect of the case. There is also the issue of whether the self defense was out of proportion with the danger, and the question of whether the shooting occurred after they were already separated. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504/1580 "2012-03-24T12:17:10Z")
No, Carmady, it’s not just whether actions are legal or not, as we covered just yesterday. Something can be legal and still end up leading to another’s death, at which point the person who undertook the legal action can be held to account for it. Go through yesterday’s posts… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hasnt-the-neighborhood-watch-shooter-been-arrested/615504.md?page=80)