Lawyers acting for George Zimmerman, who shot dead the unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin on a Florida housing estate, have abandoned their attempt to have his murder charge thrown out on the grounds of self-defence.
Neighbourhood watch leader Zimmerman, 29, had been expected to claim immunity from prosecution at a hearing in April under the state’s stand-your-ground law, which allows for the use of deadly force when a person feels their life is in danger.
But in a surprise move, his lawyer, Mark O’Mara, told a judge that the defence would take its chances at Zimmerman’s trial in June for second-degree murder. He said he still intended to pursue the argument that his client was acting in self-defence in February 2012 under a violent onslaught from 17-year-old Martin.
The unexpected decision changes the entire direction of a case that sparked racial tensions when Zimmerman was originally released without charge. The case also put America’s gun laws under the spotlight.
His fate will now almost certainly rest with a jury instead of circuit court judge, Debra Nelson, who could have thrown out the case at next month’s immunity hearing. It leaves the defendant at more risk of the minimum 25-year sentence that would follow a conviction.
“The real focus is going to be on getting ready for a jury trial,” O’Mara said at a hearing on Tuesday in Sanford, close to the Retreat at Twin Lakes community where Martin had been staying with his father on the night of his death.
“As you know I’ve been counting. We’re only at 96 days [from trial] right now. So that only gives us time to really get ready for one hearing. And that’s going to be a jury trial where he gets acquitted. George wants to have a jury of his peers decide the case.”
the bolded is mine. and i can’t stand how people are acting like it’s some big “surprising” deal that zimmerman is doing this. are you kidding me? he’s got an *extremely* good chance of walking clean and free now—he has MUCH better odds facing a jury of “peers” (who are all scared of scary black people and who can see themselves in the position of being attacked by a scary black people) than he does a judge who is usually (not always, but usually) held more accountable to the law that a jury is.
they don’t need a ‘stand your ground defense” when they have centuries of white supremacy…
Zimmerman drops ‘stand your ground’ defense in Trayvon Martin murder case: