I am surprised that the prosecutor charged Zimmerman with second degree murder; manslaughter would have been a more appropriate charge. Traditionally, murder implies that premeditation and deliberation as well as true malice existed in killing the victim. Murder usually requires that an appreciable time pass between the formation and execution of the intent to kill.
Maybe the prosecutor is just leaving wiggle room so the charges can be pleaded down to manslaughter without a trial, or maybe the prosecutor is so caught up in the large scale publicity of the Martin shooting that she wanted to go with the harshest charges possible. I believe that she has an uphill battle ahead of her getting a jury of 12 to convict Zimmerman on 2nd degree murder charges based on the evidence as we know it at this time. Risky to say the least. On the other hand, this prosecutor has a history of liking to roll the dice big in high profile cases. She better hope she finds an eyewitness who has video showing that Zimmerman ran over to Martin, assaulted the teenager first, beat Martin up while the boy cried on the ground, and then pulled out the gun to shoot Martin.
Maybe the prosecutor is just leaving wiggle room so the charges can be pleaded down to manslaughter without a trial, or maybe the prosecutor is so caught up in the large scale publicity of the Martin shooting that she wanted to go with the harshest charges possible. I believe that she has an uphill battle ahead of her getting a jury of 12 to convict Zimmerman on 2nd degree murder charges based on the evidence as we know it at this time. Risky to say the least. On the other hand, this prosecutor has a history of liking to roll the dice big in high profile cases. She better hope she finds an eyewitness who has video showing that Zimmerman ran over to Martin, assaulted the teenager first, beat Martin up while the boy cried on the ground, and then pulled out the gun to shoot Martin.