Civil rights leaders and residents of Sanford, Fla., attend to a town hall meeting March 20, 2012, to discuss the death of a 17-year-old, unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a neighborhood watch captain on Feb. 26 in Sanford. Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
While local prosecutors have not arrested the shooter, George Zimmerman, the case is now being investigated by the Department of Justice and a Florida state attorney. It’s not clear whether Florida’s self-defense law will be applied in the case. (The police report on the shooting refers to it as an “unnecessary killing to prevent unlawful act.”)
“Stand Your Ground,” “Shoot First," “Make My Day” — state laws asserting an expansive right to self-defense — have come into focus after last month’s killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin .
Still, in not arresting Zimmerman, local officials have pointed to Florida’s wide definition of self-defense. In 2005, Florida became the first state to explicitly expand a person’s right to use deadly force for self-defense. Deadly force is justified if a person is gravely threatened, in the home or “any other place where he or she has a right to be.”
In Florida, once self-defense is invoked, the burden is on the prosecution to disprove the claim.
Most states have long allowed the use of reasonable force, sometimes including deadly force, to protect oneself inside one’s home — the so-called Castle Doctrine. Outside the home, people generally still have a “duty to retreat” from an attacker, if possible, to avoid confrontation. In other words, if you can get away and you shoot anyway, you can be prosecuted. In Florida, there is no duty to retreat. You can “stand your ground” outside your home, too.
Florida is not alone. Twenty-three other states now allow people to stand their ground. Most of these laws were passed after Florida’s. (A few states never had a duty to retreat to begin with.)
Here’s a rundown of the states with laws mirroring the one in Florida, where there’s no duty to retreat in public places and where, in most cases, self-defense claims have some degree of immunity in court. (The specifics of what kind of immunity, and when the burden of proof lies on the prosecution, vary from state to state.)
Many of the laws were originally advocated as a way to address domestic abuse cases — how could a battered wife retreat if she was attacked in her own home? Such legislation also has been recently pushed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups.
Click on the state to see its law.
Alabama
Arizona
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois (The law does not includes a duty to retreat, which courts have interpreted as a right to expansive self-defense.)
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Oregon (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Washington (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)
West Virginia
2012 mugshot of George Zimmerman. Cellphone call to the Sanford Police Department by George Zimmerman before the shooting of Trayvon Martin

, the Florida neighborhood watch captain who shot  teenager  in February, stepped into court for his first appearance Thursday afternoon after his arrest the previous night. The judge found probable cause in the charges of second degree , but Zimmerman's lawyer held off on making a bail request out of concern for his clients safety.

At a Wednesday evening news conference in Jacksonville, Florida, special prosecutor  announced Zimmerman willingly turned himself in. A law enforcement official said at the time Zimmerman was in custody at the  in Florida. Corey said, "It is the search for justice for Trayvon that has brought us to this moment."

Zimmerman, 28, was involved in an altercation with the 17-year-old  that led to Martin’s death the night of February 26 in , Florida. Zimmerman claimed self-defense when he shot Martin. Martin was in a gated community returning to the house he and his father were staying at carrying a pack of candy and iced tea when Zimmerman followed him and called the police to report a "suspicious" character. Since then, black leaders have demanded justice for a murder that they believe to be driven by race.

Zimmerman’s arrest and charge occurred after his lawyers announced Tuesday they were quitting the case after having no contact with him since Sunday. They also said Zimmerman was in a fragile mental state. 

In Florida, a person charged with second-degree murder can spend life in prison, and the charge is usually when a confrontation ends with the death one of the parties involved. Florida also has a , which means people can use deadly force in cases of self-defense, which is expected to play a major role in the case. In the United States, 24 states, including Florida, have such a law while the other 27 states do not. The  pushed for the law's passage in Florida seven years ago.

Trayvon Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, have been publicly calling for Zimmerman to be prosecuted. They appeared at a press conference after the special prosecutor's announcement with Reverend  in Washington, D.C. Fulton said, "We simply wanted an arrest. We wanted nothing more and nothing less, we just wanted an arrest. And we got it."

Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O’Mara has already signaled that his client will plead not guilty at a future hearing which the judge set for May 29, but he also expects to request bail for his client once safety details are worked out.
Time of important events throughout the Trayvon Martin case. 


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