The tragic killing of a young black man, Trayvon Martin, earlier this year has divided America. Was it a racist murder or self-defence? The shooting occurred in Florida, where a controversial law allows a person to stand their ground outside their home and use lethal force if they feel threatened. Since it was introduced, the rate of justifiable homicide has almost tripled. And similar laws apply in more than 20 states in the US. Amos Roberts reports from Florida, where the debate over the killing and the law is raging.

REPORTER:  Amos Roberts

Tracey Martin and Sabrina Fulton have come to the Seminole County Criminal Court to see their son's killer and to pray he stays behind bars.

NEWS REPORTER:   What's going through your mind right now?

Today, the man who killed Trayvon Martin is applying for bail. It took six weeks of investigation and enormous public pressure before George Zimmerman was finally charged.

MAN:   All rise.

On February 26, he followed the young black man and shot him, later telling police he had acted in self-defence.

MARK O’MARA, LAWYER:  You had mentioned, Mr Zimmerman saying that he was having his head hit on the back. Correct?

COURT WITNESS:  Yes. He mentioned that his head was being physically bashed against the concrete sidewalk and that he - this was just prior to him firing the shot.

MAN:  Thank you.

Thanks to Florida's Stand Your Ground law. That claim could give him immunity from prosecution and make police liable for a wrongful arrest.

NEWS REPORTER:  How do you feel?  

NEWS REPORTER 2:  Well, it's very clear that the parents were disappointed as they left the courthouse today.

NEWS REPORTER 3:  Trayvon Martin's parents say they are devastated. A Florida judge has ruled that George Zimmerman, the man who killed their son, can go free on bond.

Trayvon Martin's parents aren't alone in their grief and anger.  Many families believe Stand Your Ground laws let people get away with murder. 

BONNIE BAKER:  It just reminds me of the old Western movies. I feel like we're back in the wild, wild West, where we all should strap on our belt and get our guns and our harnesses and just walk around. That's the way it seems like it's going, and that's just pathetic.

This picture here is very special, because this was when they were first brought into life, my beautiful boy twins. This is Brandon, he was a little bit bigger than Chris.

Bonnie Baker's son Brandon isn't a household name like Trayvon Martin, but he was shot and killed just nine days after Trayvon.

BONNIE BAKER:  This captures his true spirit, because he was so happy and sweet and loving.

And the police didn't arrest his shooter either.

REPORTER:  Did anyone ask the police what had happened to this guy and why he hadn't been charged?

BONNIE BAKER:  They called it the ‘Stand Your Ground’. It was for the Stand Your Ground law, in Florida.

MAN: This is ABC Action News...

ABC REPORTER:  We are also following the latest developments in another Stand Your Ground case, this one in Pinellas County, where so far, no charges have been laid either.

NEWS REPORTER:  The Sheriff’s office says Baker and his twin brother were coming home from a party one night in early March, in separate cars. 23-year-old security guard Seth Browning started following Baker. He later claimed he thought Baker was driving suspiciously.

Brandon's sister, Brandi, takes me out to the scene of the shooting in her brother's ute.

BRANDI BAKER, SISTER:  The guy was tailgating and following him. He definitely turned here into his neighbourhood.

Brandon's pursuer followed him almost to his home. Brandon's brother and girlfriend were behind in another car.

BRANDI BAKER:  We're gonna pull right into where Brandon stopped.

Brandi thinks her brother pulled over so his pursuer could drive away. But he didn't.

BRANDI BAKER:  Brandon got out and confronted him.

By that time, Brandon's brother had also arrived on the scene.

BRANDI BAKER: This is where Brandon died. And Chris ran to Brandon's aid and by this time, all he sees is a hose of pepper spray being sprayed in his brother's face.

Seth Browning, a security guard who served in the army in Afghanistan, told police he used the pepper spray because Brandon was aggressive. He said Brandon then punched him through his car window, so he drew his gun.

BONNIE BAKER:  Brandon had turned towards Chris and raised his arms. And when he did that, the killer shot him in the heart, under his arm. And died! And he died! And he fell back, and Chris... Didn't let him fall, he let him lay softly into the grass.

REPORTER:  Let's just say that the story that Seth Browning's told is true. Let's just say Brandon was angry and Brandon tried to punch him. If that story was true, do you think he would have been justified in doing what he did?

BRANDI BAKER: Absolutely not.

BONNIE BAKER:  No way! Brandon was unarmed! The pepper spray would have been enough. The pepper spray would have been enough. And then roll your window up and get the heck out of there and call the police.

BRANDI BAKER: Why pepper-spray someone, because they want to know why you're following him?

BONNIE BAKER:  He did not deserve to die because this killer didn't like the way he was driving.

If Brandon had been shot seven years ago, before Florida introduced its Stand Your Ground law, Seth Browning would almost certainly have been arrested.

BRIAN CAVANAGH, HOMICIDE PROSECUTOR:  There is no justice, when we have a law like this. Because there's nothing showing greater stupidity than a law that causes people to be shot dead or killed, when they wouldn't have been otherwise.

Homicide prosecutor Brian Cavanagh says Stand Your Ground is a recipe for escalating conflict.

REPORTER:  There is always a right to self-defence enshrined in the law.

BRIAN CAVANAGH:   Absolutely.

REPORTER:   What's the difference?

BRIAN CAVANAGH:  There's a long-standing principle of law, called the Castle Doctrine, which essentially means if you are in your own home, you have a right to stand your ground and use deadly force, if necessary, to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, but now the Castle Doctrine has been extended, literally, to everywhere on the street.

How many altercations, how many road-rage cases are there where the argument escalates and somebody pulls a weapon, then somebody pulls another weapon? The next thing you know, someone is dead.

More than 20 states now have Stand Your Ground laws on the statute books, thanks to a powerful gun lobby. The National Rifle Association was even involved in writing the legislation. But ever since Trayvon Martin's death became big news, there have been calls to repeal the laws.

State legislator Dennis Baxley sponsored Florida's Stand Your Ground law, and he's been invited to debate it at this forum in Orlando. Listening closely in the audience, George Zimmerman's defence attorney, Mark O'Mara.

DENNIS BAXLEY, FLORIDA STATE LEGISLATOR:  Nothing in this statute authorises you to pursue, provoke, confront other people. This is a law for law-abiding citizens who are doing nothing wrong, and they become the victim of violence. And the presumption should be on their side.

Legal academic Elizabeth Megale disagrees.

ELIZABETH MEGALE, LEGAL ACADEMIC:  Can I respond to that very briefly? The problem is that it does go beyond just protecting those law-abiding citizens who are trying to protect themselves. It protects a person that is pursuing, it protects the person who is confronting. It protects the person who's chasing someone four blocks away, and he shoots them or stabs them in the back.

CHAIRMAN:  Do you see – reason for modification of the law to carve out those types of unintended consequences?

DENNIS BAXLEY:  No.

You know, it's easy to sit around for two, three hours and discuss what we think someone should have done, could have done or would have done. But in fact the victim of violent attack has seconds to decide - do they want to be a victim or not? We need to stand beside them and let them make that judgement.

Charles Podany knows what it's like to make that judgement. On February 29, 2008, he killed a man.

CHARLES PODANY:  I have to carry this everywhere I go. Unfortunately, that's just the times that we live in.

REPORTER:  The night that you shot Casey Landes, was that the first time that you had had to use the gun?

CHARLES PODANY:  Yes. Yes.

Charles Podany lives in a small, poor neighbourhood not far from Tampa. One evening four years ago, its peace was disturbed, so Charles called the police.

CHARLES PODANY, 911 CALL:  Yes. I would like to report a reckless driver going through Bay Hills Circle. They came round the corner of my house sideways. There's kids playing out here and everything. A couple of idiots.

He called again later, when they returned.

CHARLES PODANY, 911 CALL:  They were driving way too fast. There were kids out on the street and everything. I don't know if they are drunk, or what.

Charles is a motorcycle enthusiast. He loves speed and he's not afraid of taking risks. But he's also cautious. When he went out later that night to look for the driver, he took his gun.

CHARLES PODANY:  I decided to go out and try and get a tag number from the vehicle.

He says he had a polite conversation with the owner of the vehicle, who apologised. But as he was leaving, someone else at the house decided to confront him.

CHARLES PODANY:  There was a young man out there, ripping his shirt off, and asking me if I wanted a piece of him. And I guess the mistake I made was turning my back on him, because he sucker-punched me from behind. And it instantly put me down on the ground and I believe I was out for several seconds.

REPORTER: Could you have run away after he had struck the first blow?

CHARLES PODANY:  He didn't give me a chance. He didn't give me a chance. And I was on my knees and starting to get up and he grabbed me immediately. I drew my gun. He was coming down on me again, which was pretty foolish. But, um, I had had the gun loaded by that time, and that's when I took a shot, when he was coming at me again. Because basically, I'm defenceless, I'm on my back now. You know? That ended it right there, unfortunately but, fortunately for me.

Charles Podany shot and killed 21-year-old Casey Landes. This is his mother, Ruby.

RUBY LANDES:  We were walking up into the driveway, where my son, Casey, was shot and killed February 29, 2008.

She doesn't think her son deserved to die.

RUBY LANDES:  Rest in peace, my son.

REPORTER:  But by the time Charles shot your son, he had already been hurt pretty bad. I have seen photos of the blood.
 
RUBY LANDES:  No. That man didn't have but one little cut on his lip. That was it.

After the shooting, police held Charles Podany for seven hours. They tried to work out whether to charge him.

DETECTIVE:  Where were you carrying the gun?

The investigating detectives spent much of the time on the phone to the state attorney's office. Before Stand Your Ground became law, Charles would have had to prove he acted in self-defence. Now the onus was on police and prosecutors to prove he didn't.

CHARLES PODANY:  At that point, I don't think I believed that the law was going to help me at all, you know, that I was probably going to go to trial, go to jail.

Charles Podany was charged with manslaughter. Under Stand Your Ground, it was up to a judge, not a jury, to decide whether he was immune from prosecution. The judge apologised to Casey Landes' family, saying the law required him to dismiss the charge.

RUBY LANDES:  And I don't see how it could be Stand Your Ground when someone literally puts a gun to someone's cheek and pulls the trigger. Why not a fire off a warning shot, or something like that, you know? Or say, "Hey, I got a gun."
 
REPORTER:  Ultimately, do you feel that the law worked the way it should? Do you feel that justice was done and that your actions were vindicated?

CHARLES PODANY:  Yes. Yes. If it hadn't have been for the law, I probably would have gone through a lengthy trial, could have been convicted.

REPORTER:  Do you think he should have just taken a beating if he needed to?

RUBY LANDES:  Yeah. Yes, I do. I honestly do.

KEVIN BAKER: I would like to thank all of you for coming out here today. Brandon was a good guy. I hope that you all will at least go and sign the petition to bring justice about.

This is Kevin - the father of Brandon Baker, who was killed by a man who didn't like his driving.

KEVIN BAKER:  67, 86, up here. You're a winner.

Today, the family is holding a benefit concert to help pay for Brandon's funeral. Cases like that of Brandon Baker and Trayvon Martin have convinced many that Stand Your Ground must be repealed. Florida's Governor has appointed a task force to review the law.

REPORTER:  You believe someone got away with murder?

BRIAN CAVANAGH:  Oh, yeah. Definitely.

REPORTER:  And only because of this law?

BRIAN CAVANAGH:  Yes.
 
DENNIS BAXLEY:  You will always have some decisions that are close to the foul line. Is it in or is it out? Does it apply or does it not apply? My responsibility as a policy-maker is to protect the public safety of 20 million people.

REPORTER:  What do you think the consequences will be if the law is repealed?

CHARLES PODANY:  There will be more innocent people going to jail for just trying to protect themselves from undue violence - plain and simple.

Two months after Brandon Baker's death, police and prosecutors say they are still considering whether or not to lay charges against his killer.

BONNIE BAKER:  All he had to do was call in Brandon’s plate and go on his merry way. But he took it upon himself to be the policeman, the judge and the executioner.

YALDA HAKIM:  Amos Roberts and the deeply personal cost of Stand Your Ground legislation. Learn more about the law on our website and the campaigns for and against. You can join the debate by telling us what you think.

 
Reporter/Camera
AMOS ROBERTS

Producer
VICTORIA STROBL

Fixer
TRACEY HANNAFORD

Editor
NICK O’BRIEN

Original Music Composed by VICKI HANSEN