* Angela Corey will decide whether to charge
* George Zimmerman creates legal defense fund
* “Stand Your Ground” defense faces hurdles, lawyers say
(Adds detail about Zimmerman’s defense fund)
By Barbara Liston
ORLANDO, Fla., April 9 (Reuters) – The special prosecutor
investigating the shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager
Trayvon Martin on Monday ruled out using a grand jury in the
case, meaning her office alone will decide whether to charge
shooter George Zimmerman with a crime.
The case has captured national attention because of race and
Florida’s controversial self-defense laws, prompting
demonstrations across the country including one on Monday that
temporarily shut down the Sanford Police Department in the town
where the shooting took place.
Martin, 17, was black and Zimmerman, 28, who has not been
charged, is white and Hispanic.
Sanford police declined to arrest Zimmerman after the
shooting, saying they found no evidence to contradict his
account that he acted in self-defense. Police cited Florida’s
“Stand Your Ground” law, which allows people to use deadly force
against adversaries when they fear great bodily harm or death.
But defense lawyers with experience litigating “Stand Your
Ground” cases say Zimmerman, if he is charged, faces significant
challenges in order to assert immunity under that law.
Zimmerman has created a website to raise money for his legal
defense and living expenses while he awaits the decision over
possible charges against him.
The website, called therealgeorgezimmerman.com, offers one
of the first publicly available comments from Zimmerman since he
went into hiding after the shooting on Feb. 26.
“I was involved in a life altering event which led me to
become the subject of intense media coverage,” Zimmerman says on
the home page.
“As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage,
I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my
family and ultimately, my entire life.”
The state attorney who initially investigated the shooting,
Norm Wolfinger, had said the case would go to a grand jury on
April 10. The panel, a group of citizens who meet in secret to
hear evidence without defense witnesses or cross-examination,
would have decided whether to charge Zimmerman.
But Wolfinger, facing withering criticism, removed himself
from the case on March 22. Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, also
under fire for his handling of the investigation, stepped aside
the same day.
Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Angela Corey, a
seasoned state attorney in Jacksonville, to take over the case
as special prosecutor.
“State Attorney Angela Corey has decided not to use a grand
jury in the Trayvon Martin shooting death investigation,” her
office said in a statement on Monday. “At this time, the
investigation continues and there will be no further comment
from this office.”
“SIMPLE JUSTICE”
Corey’s decision appeared to confirm her reputation as a
prosecutor who does not shy away from deciding how to handle
difficult cases.
Lawyers for the Martin family and for Zimmerman called
Corey’s decision unsurprising.
“We are not surprised by this announcement and, in fact, are
hopeful that a decision will be reached very soon to arrest
George Zimmerman and give Trayvon Martin’s family the simple
justice they have been seeking all along,” Benjamin Crump, a
Martin family attorney, said in a statement.
“Courageous move on her part,” one of the lawyers
representing the Zimmerman family, Hal Uhrig, told CNN. He also
said the decision was expected.
Unlike some states, Florida law gives prosecutors the option
of allowing charges to be decided by a grand jury except in
cases involving a possible death penalty.
“It’s very bold on her part,” said David Weinstein, a former
Florida state and federal prosecutor now in private practice in
Miami. “She has no qualms about whatever decision she is going
to make. She is not going to let it be passed off on somebody
else.”
Relatives and supporters of Zimmerman say he was attacked by
Martin and feared for his life when he fired his 9mm handgun,
which he was licensed to carry.
Should Zimmerman face charges and attempt to claim immunity
under “Stand Your Ground,” he would face legal challenges,
experts say.
“PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE”
The first hurdle would be a special evidentiary hearing in
front of a judge, where Zimmerman would have the opportunity to
argue he deserves immunity. But to convince the judge, Zimmerman
would have to present a “preponderance of evidence” that he
acted in self-defense, which under the law means he has to show
he had “reasonable belief” that such force was necessary.
That is a high bar, and difficult to prove, criminal defense
attorneys said.
In cases where the facts are even remotely in dispute the
judge is likely to deny the “Stand Your Ground” immunity motion,
said Ralph Behr, a Florida criminal defense attorney who has
filed eight motions for immunity, all of which have been denied.
More typically, a judge will choose to have the case go to
trial, where the defendants must take their chances with a jury,
he said.
“Judges do not readily grant these (immunity) motions
because they know they can pass it on to the jury,” said Carey
Haughwout, the elected public defender for Palm Beach County.
Monday’s demonstration, which followed protests around the
country and prominent figures demanding Zimmerman’s arrest, took
place outside the Sanford Police Department.
The crowd forced police to temporarily close the station to
the public, suspend some services such as fingerprinting and
move routine business to the city clerk’s office.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Longstreth and Daniel Trotta in
New York and David Adams and Kevin Gray in Miami; Editing by
Xavier Briand and Lisa Shumaker)
