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MIAMI The Justice Department's decision to not prosecute a civilian neighborhood watch volunteer for a hate crime in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager is not necessarily a harbinger of how it will rule in two other high-profile deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police officers, legal experts say.

That is because the standards used to gauge the existence of a hate crime committed by civilians are different from those used to measure the behavior of police officers, who can be charged with depriving someone of their civil rights by using excessive force in the course of duty.

Because George Zimmerman was not a police officer, the U.S. Justice Department could only prosecute him for fatally shooting teenager Trayvon Martin nearly three years ago if it had sufficient evidence the killing was motivated by racial bias or hatred, the experts say.

Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, without any legal authority associated with law enforcement officers. Zimmerman claimed he shot the 17-year-old Martin in self-defense, and he was acquitted by a jury in July 2013 of second-degree murder.

If he had been a sworn officer, federal prosecutors would have the option of pursuing "color of law" charges against Zimmerman. It is this kind of federal case that could be brought against officers in recent contentious killings by white police officers of black suspects Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.

Those cases are also hard to prove; police officers are given latitude to use deadly force if they feel their lives are endangered.

"In the case of a police officer, what you're looking at is, did the police officer use excessive force that resulted in a death or injury or something else? It's not what a reasonable person would do. It's what a reasonable police officer would do under the circumstances," said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who handled civil right cases.

"For a private citizen, it is a hate crime, which has to be motivated by race," he added. "Zimmerman may have wanted to be a police officer at some point in time, but he wasn't then and he isn't now."

St. Louis community activist John Gaskins, a member of the NAACP's national board of directors, said he wasn't surprised by the decision to not charge Zimmerman federally in Martin's death. But he said "this doesn't give me much hope" that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will be indicted.

"It's not encouraging to see that George Zimmerman was not indicted," Gaskins said.

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Without hate crime, US limited in prosecuting George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman will not face federal civil-rights charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence.

In a prepared statement, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said FBI agents and DOJ attorneys simply could not build a successful case that Zimmerman was motivated by race when he killed the Miami Gardens teenager Feb. 26, 2012.

Even so, Holder said, Trayvon's death requires that "we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface."

The outcome came as no surprise to lawyers and people familiar with the case. It was met with resignation by Trayvon's family and prominent supporters.

Francis Oliver, founder of the Goldsboro Westside Historical Museum in Sanford, which houses a memorial for Trayvon, said the decision included "nothing that's surprising to us."

No local protests were planned, she said.

"We're not going to do anything to glorify George Zimmerman," she said. "As far as we're concerned, he doesn't exist. He's a character that we just have closed the book on."

Feds: We studied state case

In the spring of 2012, Trayvon's shooting became a civil-rights cause clbre.

Sanford police investigated but did not initially arrest Zimmerman, something that led to rallies and brought Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the national president of the NAACP to Sanford.

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George Zimmerman will not face federal charges in Trayvon Martin shooting

George Zimmerman (pic) won't face US federal charges over the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

George Zimmerman, the former neighbourhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin in a 2012 confrontation with the teenager, will not face US federal charges.

The Justice Department's decision resolves a case that focused public attention on self-defence gun laws and became a flashpoint in the national conversation about race two years before the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting of a black man.

Zimmerman has maintained that he acted in self defence when he shot the 17-year-old Martin during a confrontation inside a gated community in Sanford in Florida.

Martin, who was black, was unarmed when he was killed. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

Once Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder by a state jury in July 2013, Martin's family turned to the federal investigation in final hopes that he would be held accountable for the shooting.

That probe focused on whether the killing could be charged as a federal hate crime and on whether Zimmerman wilfully deprived Martin of his civil rights, a difficult legal standard to meet.

But Justice Department officials said they ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence to prove Zimmerman killed the teenager on account of his race.

"Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases," Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department's top civil rights official, said in a statement announcing the decision.

Martin's parents were too distraught after their meeting in Miami with Justice Department officials to speak with reporters, said their lawyer Ben Crump, who called the decision a "bitter pill to swallow" even though it was expected.

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No charges in Trayvon Martin death in US

Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank / AP

George Zimmerman, left, stands with defense counsel Mark OMara during closing arguments in his trial at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, in Sanford, Fla., July 12,2013.

By Jennifer Kay and Eric Tucker, Associated Press

Published Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 | 11:07 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 | 1:35 p.m.

MIAMI George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Trayvon Martin in a 2012 confrontation with the teenager, will not face federal charges, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The decision, announced in the waning days of Attorney General Eric Holder's tenure, resolves a case that focused on self-defense gun laws and became a flashpoint in the national conversation about race two years before the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting.

Zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense when he shot the 17-year-old Martin during a confrontation inside a gated community in Sanford, Florida, just outside Orlando. Martin, who was black, was unarmed when he was killed. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

Once Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder by a state jury in July 2013, Martin's family turned to the federal investigation in hopes that he would be held accountable for the shooting.

That probe focused on whether the killing amounted to a federal civil rights violation, which would have required proof that it was motivated by racial animosity. The Justice Department said there was not enough evidence to establish that Zimmerman willfully deprived Martin of his civil rights a difficult legal standard to meet or killed the teenager on account of his race.

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Zimmerman wont face federal charges in Trayvon Martin shooting

Father of Trayvon Martin to speak at SUNY Fredonia
Tracy Martin will discuss the loss of his son in 2012 following a confrontation with neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. His presentation will include the importance of proper conflict...

By: WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY

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Father of Trayvon Martin to speak at SUNY Fredonia - Video