I haven't followed much of the Trayvon Martin story but I do have this question..

[ellisonz]

37. Well it's the way it's been...

...for quite a long time in this country - what the police choose to do and what the law as defined by politicians allows them to do is open to matters of opinion. All Zimmerman had to do was say it was self-defense...

"I asked him, 'What's happening here? What's going on?' said Cutcher's friend, who did not want her name published for fear for her safety. "The third time, I was indignant, and he said, 'Just call the police.' Then I saw him with his hands over his head in the universal sign of: 'Oh man, I messed up.' "

The women, who were the first on the scene, said they saw Zimmerman pacing back and forth.

McClatchey News Bureau Story

If this witness is being truthful (which we have no reason to doubt), obviously he had doubts about his actions immediately too and clearly someone like him understands these laws...

Don't tell the police too much because you might incriminate yourself - just say it was a "DGU" - a defensive gun use