Sanford, FL – After an extraordinary public campaign to make an arrest in the shooting of an unarmed black teen, a Florida prosecutor came back with a murder charge in the case that has galvanized the nation for weeks.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
But prosecutors face steep hurdles to win a second-degree murder conviction against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin, experts say. They will have to prove Zimmerman intentionally went after Martin instead of shooting him in self-defense, refute arguments that a Florida law empowered him to use deadly force and get past a judge’s ruling at a pretrial hearing.
Zimmerman, 28, who turned himself in at a county jail Wednesday after prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charge, was to appear before a magistrate Thursday and plead not guilty in the Feb. 26 shooting of the 17-year-old that set off a nationwide debate about racial profiling and the rights to self-defense.
“He is concerned about getting a fair trial and a fair presentation,” his attorney, Mark O’Mara said. “He is a client who has a lot of hatred focused on him. I’m hoping the hatred settles down … he has the right to his own safety and the case being tried before a judge and jury.”
Speaking Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show, O’Mara said Zimmerman is stressed and very tired and hoping to get bail.
“He wants to be out (of jail) to be able to help with his defense, but overall he is doing ok,” O’Mara told NBC.
Legal experts said Corey chose a tough route with the murder charge, which could send Zimmerman to prison for life if he’s convicted, over manslaughter, which usually carries 15-year prison terms and covers reckless or negligent killings.
The prosecutors must prove Zimmerman’s shooting of Martin was rooted in hatred or ill will and counter his claims that he shot Martin to protect himself while patrolling his gated community in the Orlando suburb of Sanford. Zimmerman’s lawyers would only have to prove by a preponderance of evidence — a relatively low legal standard — that he acted in self-defense at a pretrial hearing to prevent the case from going to trial.
There’s a “high likelihood it could be dismissed by the judge even before the jury gets to hear the case,” Florida defense attorney Richard Hornsby said.
Corey announced the charges Wednesday after an extraordinary 45-day campaign for Zimmerman’s arrest, led by Martin’s parents and civil rights activists, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Protesters wore hooded sweatshirts like the one Martin had on the night of the shooting. The debate reached all the way to the White House, where President Barack Obama observed last month: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
Corey would not discuss how she reconciled conflicting accounts of the shooting by Zimmerman, witnesses and phone recordings that indicated Martin thought Zimmerman was following him.
“We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition. We prosecute based on the facts on any given case as well as the laws of the state of Florida,” Corey said.
Martin’s parents expressed relief over the decision to prosecute the person who shot their son.
“The question I would really like to ask him is, if he could look into Trayvon’s eyes and see how innocent he was, would he have then pulled the trigger? Or would he have just let him go on home?” said his father, Tracy Martin.
Many attorneys said they had expected the prosecutor to opt for the lesser charge of manslaughter. The most severe homicide charge, first-degree murder, is subject to the death penalty in Florida and requires premeditation — something all sides agreed was not present in this case.
“I predicted manslaughter, so I’m a little surprised,” said Michael Seigel, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of Florida. “But she has more facts than I do.”
O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney, said his client would plead not guilty and invoke Florida’s so-called “stand your ground” law, which gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight.
The confrontation took place in a gated community where Martin was staying with his father and his father’s fiancée. Martin was walking back in the rain from a convenience store when Zimmerman spotted him and called 911. He followed the teenager despite being told not to by a police dispatcher and the two got into a struggle.
Zimmerman told police Martin punched him in the nose, knocking him down, and then began banging the volunteer’s head on the sidewalk. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in fear for his life. Sanford police took Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, into custody the night of the shooting but released him without charging him.
A judge could dismiss the charge based on the “stand your ground” law, legal experts said. But some experts say the judge will also be under tremendous pressure to let the case go forward.
“Judges are not likely to take that out of the hands of the jury,” said Florida defense attorney Randy Reep.
Other attorneys weren’t surprised that Corey went for the maximum.
“Prosecutors look for leverage. They’ll typically overcharge knowing that gives them wiggle room for plea discussions,” said Derek Byrd, incoming president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “She knows that she could offer him manslaughter at some point or get in front of a jury that could split the verdict and agree on a lesser offense.”
Corey wouldn’t discuss how she arrived at the charges or disclose other details of her investigation. The prosecutor in Jacksonville was appointed to handle the case by Republican Gov. Rick Scott after the local prosecutor disqualified himself.
The U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division is conducting its own civil rights investigation.
Tensions had risen in Sanford, a town of 50,000 outside Orlando. Someone shot up an unoccupied police car Tuesday outside the neighborhood where Martin was killed. Outside of Sanford City Hall on Wednesday, Stacy Davis, who is black, said the arrest “is not a black or white thing for me. It’s a right or wrong thing.”
In Washington, Martin’s family pleaded for calm in response to the decision. But Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, clasped hands and smiled in relief when she heard Corey utter the words “second-degree murder” on television.
Invoking “Stand Your Ground” may not be a good idea. The two authors of the bill who are uber-Conservatives and the Governor Jeb Bush who signed the law have already made public statements that the law does not cover Zimmerman. You can be sure that the jury will hear that either from the lawmakers themselves or in an exhibit. Either way, Jeb Bush is one of the most respected and knowledgable men in the state. If he says in court that Zimmerman is not covered, it will carry HUGE weight here.
If I were Zimmerman, Id be going for “accidental shooting”. Stand Your Ground does not cover you when you are the aggressor. Once he got out of his car to chase, stalk or otherwise pursue Martin, he became the aggressor under the law (not my opinion, that is according to the men who WROTE the law).
We’ll have to see how well this strategy pans out for him.
Good. Now let’s get back to law and order instead of the pogroms and bloodcraze the liberal media was trying to stir up.
I despise those “black activists” including martin’s father, its not his fault, its probably the first time he gets chauffeured in a limo.. And he is excited about the fortune of money and fame that’s about to fall on him. Uch.. You can see through it all.
I’m not pro nor anti Zimmerman as I’m still waiting for more evidence to come forth. But if he claims to police he was punched in nose and martin banged his head on sidewalk, A) is there no surveillance cameras to prove it? B) his head and face should show marks as proof.
I’m wondering too how come martins criminal past is being shoved under the rug and no mention of it? Obviously this would give Zimmerman the right to protect himself. Didn’t he act on that ground. Didn’t he appear suspicious to zm after he had a bad track record?
It shouldn’t matter what the intent of the stand your ground law was made it only matters what the written law states. Jeb bush should keep his trap shut and allowthe judge decide if zimmerman acted within the law.
One good thing is, trayvon’s mother just admitted, no doubt to the chagrin and anger of sharpton, jackson and the black panthers, that she believes the shooting was accidental. That should hopefully do away with any murder convictions.
What I can’t understand, is when a Black man is accused of killing a Jew, he is defended by not one, but four Jewish lawyers (i.e. Shapiro, Schecht and his partner, and Dershowitz). Yet, in this case, not one Jewish lawyer has come forward to defend Zimmerman.
reply to #1
what YOU or any other IDIOT thinks doesnt matter, what the JURY believes is all that will matter unless the Judge is honest and dimisses on his own, the thing about the LAW your wrong about is first it doesnt change what SELF DEFENSE is in Florida, to justifiy self defense you only need to show that Zimmerman under the circumstance at the time both feared for his life, and that the fear was reasonable to another person under those circumstances, BOTH ANSWERS ARE YES!, then its JUSTIFIED self defense . The stand your ground has nothing to do with whether you acted in self defense, it merely removed the requirement that you try to flee , which makes the law irrelevent in this case since ZIMMERMAN WAS ON HIS BACK with TRAYVON on top beating his head on the cement walkway, HE COULD NOT FLEE EVEN IF HE WANTED TO. All this legal garbage on the media for a PAYCHECK expose them as the unethical lawyers they really are.
The whole case is being used for Media ratings and paychecks for unethical lawyers, and even this article is WRONG, the judge wont rule it falls under the stand your ground, since the law has nothing to do with this case and is just being used by people against the law. Zimmerman was on the ground with Trayvon on top of him beating his head on the ground, that does not fall under the stand your ground, which is so you dont get arrested by onver jealous police when some one pulls a knife on you to rob you and you shoot them without RUNNING AWAY. under the FACTS and with eyewitnesses that place Zimmerman being attacked and UNABLE TO FLEE, this case is simply about Justified Self Defense, and nothing about STAND YOUR GROUND. As are the non-sense statements about Zimmerman persuing him, Following someone is not illegal, nor being the legal aggressor, AND no one who says or believes otherwise is either stupid or a liar.You have to UNDER THE LAW, weigh only the facts and those are that Zimmerman followed someone who was acting unusual, called the police , was told they didnt need him to follow the teen, he stopped and lost contact, END OF THE LIE OF AGGRESSOR.
and was returning to his auto while still in contact with police, not CHASING OR HUNTING THE TEEN, the teen then attacked him, breaking his nose and knocking him to the graound, TRAYVON WAS NOW THE AGGRESSOR, by LAW not by non-sense, and under STAND YOUR GROUND law Zimmerman could shoot him, but he didnt, WHY? he couldnt, he was being assulted and Trayvon had sat on him and was beating his head on the ground , Zimmerman cried for help, and then in REASONABLE fear for his life shot Trayvon, SAD yes , Illegal no, SELF DEFENSE YES.The truth is without the stand your ground law, he would have been arrested that night. WRONGLY, and because he wasnt , now his chances of a fair trial and not very good, thats the only nexus for that law in this case, Zimmerman could not flee, so he didnt ever fall under the stand your ground, its just we have IDIOTS running America, who dont understand either freedoms nor constitutional protections, or even fair and honest actions dealing with laws and America.