It's Watch!... Neighborhood Watch. Not shoot.

At this point the spotlight seems to be on the DA who chose not to issue arrest warrant.

 

Because the DA wants to make sure they have a good chance to convict someone they arrest:

It doesn't sound like the lack of an immediate arrest is unusual.

The racial aspect of this case, the fact that Martin was not only unarmed, but was just returning from a skittles run makes this case a media sensation, but it doesn't mean the DA's office has treated it any differently than other cases in which self defense has been claimed.

 

That is why I'd like to hear from that office. I've had too cover far too many crime stories over the years so I know there can be legit reasons charges are not filed, at least initially. Hopefully we will learn more.

 

There aren't two side to this case. There are people wondering (and becoming increasingly agitated about) why George Zimmerman hasn't been arrested and charged in connection with the teenager's murder, and there are a bunch of loosely tethered idiots trying and failing to support the fact that Zimmerman hasn't been arrested and charged. The latter group is particularly annoying because its disingenuous tactics, like trying reinvent the teenager as a thug aggressor in the incident, amount to thinly veiled racism.

 

A Grand Jury is going to begin looking into this case on April 10th.

A Special Prosecutor has been named, and she has the authority to make an arrest.

If an arrest is warranted, it will be made.

 

Self defense is a defense to a charge in court -- it isn't usually decided by the officers on the scene. And last I checked, the standard they go by is probable cause a crime has been committed. A dead body counts as that one hundred times out of a hundred.

Zimmerman is certainly free to use it in court.

But it certainly isn't self-evident, here. And I don't know of a cop in the country who wouldn't make an arrest based on the facts of the case. The only reason not to is being told not to by a superior.

Which is not how the process is supposed to work.

 

You sure about that? I have read that Stand Your Ground is not an affirmative defense, and applying it immediately prevents the police from arresting a person or questioning witnesses or treating it as a homicide. It is those failures in the early moments of the investigation that have me thinking there's no chance he is convicted of anything.

 

If they could get them without violating copyrights they would.

 

Zeke: I'd agree with you under normal circumstances. But I do think the Florida Law changes that. (Not stating as fact) If this case at least forces a re-examination of the Florida Law a tiny bit of good will have come out of the incident.

 

Yes but it seems like "Stand Your Ground" changes the landscape.

 

Probable cause is the reason you STOP someone and QUESTION someone.

Once the questions have been answered to everyone's satisfaction, you decide whether to arrest.

Those questions have not been answered. Not even close.

At least they're not running a 4th-grade photo of Trayvon playing a bunny in a school play.

 

I quoted this above from the Times article: