But what do we really know? It is impossible to know all of the details ourselves yet, unless you are personally involved with investigating this case. More importantly, what DON'T we know about why they kept the police from arresting him? The statute is not the problem, because that simply states the right of someone to defend themselves, in a place they have a right to be whether that is public or private, without REQUIRING them to back away first. That is all. If the district attorney and the police abandoned their duty to investigate what initially happened, then THAT is what people should be upset about, not blame the statute for the fact that they are mis-applying it.

Juries and the rest of these institutions are not the word of God, and it happens quite often that they are themselves racist. I can make my own judgment, and of course I'm also allowed to do that - since my word will not kill anyone. Unlike racist "justice" systems you seem to place so much trust in, where people, quite often coloured people, are killed because someone doesn't want to look bad and reexamine, for example, DNA evidence that would exhonerate falsely convicted people. Your pretend faith in the justice system and the "rule of law" crap is way too transparent.

The case is pretty clear. If some new information comes up, people here will change their opinions. But people do not need to wait for someone else to make their own moral judgment for them. They need to take all information into account, and what we have now is pretty clear. Maybe something new (and relevant) will come up. But so far the facts point to a really fucked up racially motivated crime along with an also racially motivated police coverup. Sorry but people ARE allowed to make judgments and discuss this issue, based on the available information. And btw, the available information includes comparisons with other cases (where victims were defended and empty mj bags weren't digged up), the timing of the release of *completely irrelevant* information smearing the victim and so on, that the justice system will obviously not take into account, not just the circumstances of the murder itself.

"I would certainly hate to see many of them on a JURY."

Hey, aren't you passing judgment on people now, without ample evidence, mr. Rule-of-Law? Or are you specially allowed to do that? I'm pretty sure that most people you're commenting on would, when faced with this kind of responsibility, be willing to examine the evidence and look at the case in a balanced way. It's just that the facts that have come out so far are pretty fucking clear and make people with some sense of morals pretty fucking angry.

Jesus. Of course we don't "know" it. But we know quite a few facts about institutional racism that makes my statement much, much more probable than the opposite. Was this an argument?

Clearly, the DA thought otherwise. And just as clearly, you haven't read or don't understand the law.

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

(1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony; or

(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;

If, at any point, Zimmerman felt his body or life was in danger (and there was both forensic evidence - wounds - and eyewitness testimony from a black kid walking his dog that it was Zimmerman calling for help and getting beaten on the ground), then he clearly falls under this section.

Sorry, not on any team. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

A black man killing a white one would certainly have been arrested and this entire fucking discussion would not exist. That is the main point. Not the "rule of law". Not whether the asshole vigilante was attacked or not (after being told by the police to stand down). No, the point is that the "rule of law" would work MUCH faster, more obviously and without any questions in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

This Florida law has tied the hands of police, prosecutors and courts since its passage.

"Police chiefs in Florida metropolises like Miami and St. Petersburg, and law-enforcement groups like the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association and the National District Attorneys Association – whose then president said the law 'gives citizens more rights to use deadly force than we give police officers, and with less review' – decried Stand Your Ground when it hit the books seven years ago."

The direct forensic evidence - a bloody nose, blood on the back of the skull, and grass stains on the back of his shirt - was corroborated by a credible eye witness (a 13-year old black kid walking his dog who saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman and heard Zimmerman shouting for help), and perfectly matched the testimony of Zimmerman to the police.

In other words, ALL the available evidence with multiple corroborations indicated to the police that Zimmerman had a legitimate belief that he was in danger of great bodily harm if not death. That's all the law requires, and that is enough to prevent the police from making an arrest (and even prevents the Martin family from suing Zimmerman for damages). In spite of that, the local police wanted to detain Zimmerman for further investigation but were over-ruled.

Miami Herald (3/27): Early in the investigation the Sanford Police Department requested an arrest warrant from the Seminole County State Attorney’s office, the special prosecutor in the case told The Miami Herald on Tuesday.

A Sanford Police incident report shows the case was categorized as “homicide/negligent manslaughter.”

The state attorney’s office held off pending further review, The Miami Herald has learned.

“The case now has a new state attorney, and they didn’t file charges the first day they got it, either.” Special prosecutor Angela Corey said: “I can tell you that the police went to the state attorney with a capias request". A capias is a request for charges to be filed.

With all the national attention being focused on this case, if there was any evidence to indicate that Zimmerman did not have a self-defense justification under the Stand Your Ground law, he would have been arrested long ago.