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A judge gave jurors in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman the option of convicting him of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. |
Judge Debra Nelson issued her ruling yesterday before prosecutors were scheduled to deliver closing arguments in the case, which has captivated and polarised much of the US public, and generated a wave of street demonstrations last year.
However, in a victory for Zimmerman, Nelson later denied a prosecution request to add a second option of third-degree felony murder based on child abuse. Martin, at age 17, was a minor.
Nelson’s ruling on manslaughter was a victory for the prosecution, which wanted the sequestered, all-female jury to have the option of choosing the lesser offence, which still carries a potentially lengthy sentence.
Zimmerman could be sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder and up to 30 years for manslaughter.
The defence preferred an all-or-nothing choice of second-degree murder, confident that it had shown Zimmerman acted in self-defence and concerned the jury might opt for what lead defence lawyer Mark O’Mara described as a “compromise verdict”.
Defence lawyer Don West objected to the child abuse charge as a “trick” and “bizarre” considering evidence from the defence case that Martin was pummeling Zimmerman in a fight before Zimmerman pulled out his gun.
West also accused prosecutor Richard Mantei of “plotting for this moment when he can spring it on us and the court”.
As of Wednesday afternoon, prosecutors had indicated that they would seek a second option of aggravated assault and changed tack yesterday morning.
The case is entering its final stages under great scrutiny, televised live and an object of intense public interest.
Closing arguments should conclude today, when the jury would start deliberations.
Zimmerman’s detractors see him as a racial profiler who considered Martin suspicious because the teenager was black, and blame the defendant for unnecessarily pulling out his Kel Tec 9mm pistol, which was fully loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Supporters of liberal gun laws have rallied behind Zimmerman and helped fund his defence, seeing him as a persecuted hero who personifies the Second Amendment right to bear arms.