No the state has to prove that Zimmerman committed a crime. Shooting someone in self defense is not a crime, and because of innocent until proven guilty that state has to prove that Zimmerman did not act in self defense. Which will be hard since he was bloody from the scuffle he had with the kid.
I explained this on the previous page and I know you saw it since you quoted my post above.
Shooting someone is a crime. Shooting someone in self-defense is not, true, but that is not at issue at this moment.
Actually, according to the police in this case it is.
Sanford Police Chief Billy Lee said there is no evidence to dispute self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman's assertion that he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin out of self-defense.
"Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him," Lee said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborhood-watch-shooting-trayvon-martin-probe-reveals-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T2SUSxFmLWgNow we can dispute the police officers' motivations all we want, but what is being presented at least in the media suggests at least the possibility that the police are building a better case and thus holding off on arrest, given that they don't feel at the moment they have enough evidence to arrest him. At the very least, the assertions many people are making that because he shot someone he must in that moment be arrested are not correct. And the assertions that it's up to him to prove self-defense
only at trial, which is what some people also seem to be suggesting, are also not correct. Once someone is arrested, the clock starts ticking in terms of prosecution. There is a possibility that they're holding off on prosecuting the guy until they can solidly prosecute him, particularly given how much media attention this case has already gotten.
Also, and I cannot support this via a source other than hearsay on a blog, so I'm not sure how credible it is, but I'm seeing in several places that Zimmerman might have been a police informant. That would certainly change the way the cops might handle him, but again, I cannot support that at the moment with something I find more credible, though I'm still looking.