Trayvon Martin. (AP)
Florida State Attorney Angela Corey holds a news conference on charges to be brought against defendant George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting. (Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin in a case that has generated a national discussion about self-defense laws and the role of race in law enforcement.
The decision by Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey to bring charges comes over 40 days after Zimmerman told police he shot and killed the unarmed Martin in self defense while acting as a neighborhood watchman in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., a suburb of Orlando.
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“It is the search for justice for Trayvon that has brought us to this moment,” Corey said. “I can tell you we didn’t come to this decision lightly.”
Zimmerman, 28, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and arrived in custody about 8:30pm at Seminole County jail, the Orlando Sentinel reported. His lawyer said he would plead not guilty to the charges.
The maximum sentence for second-degree murder under Florida law is life in prison, but Corey did not comment on the amount of prison time she would seek in the case.
“We don’t make that determination at this time,” she said.
Zimmerman decided to retain Mark O’Mara as his attorney after his previous legal team, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner, said Tuesday they could no longer represent him because he had not returned their calls in days.
Zimmerman is currently being held without bond, but O’Mara said he would request a bond hearing to be held Thursday.
“My hope is that the judge will grant a bond and it will be a bond that the family can meet,” O’Mara said.
Corey said her office had not yet decided whether to try the case in Seminole County, where Martin’s shooting death occurred.
The special prosecutor noted that the intense media coverage of the shooting will likely make it difficult to find unbiased jurors.
The lengthy interval between the shooting and the charging announcement sparked a series of demonstrations across the nation by civil rights activists who claim race has been a factor in the investigation.
Corey emphasized that her decision to charge Zimmerman was not influenced by public pressure.
“We prosecute based on the facts of any given case as well as the laws of the state of Florida,” Corey said.
Martin’s parents praised Corey’s decision, but said it was “just the beginning.”
“We will march and march and march until the right thing is done,” Trayvon’s father Tracy Martin said.
“This is not a night for celebration,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, who led the largest demonstration calling for Zimmerman’s arrest in Sanford last month, said upon learning of the charges. “This is a night that should never have happened in the first place”
The case has raised intense debate about Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, which allows a person to use deadly force to prevent imminent death without first attempting to retreat.
“If ‘Stand Your Ground’ becomes an issue, we will fight that affirmative defense,” Corey said.
O’Mara said he did not know yet whether Zimmerman would attempt to use the law as part of his defense.
Zimmerman is also being investigated by the Justice Department for possibly violating federal hate crime laws.
But Attorney General Eric Holder cautioned Wednesday that hate crimes require prosecutors to prove guilt under “the highest standard in the law.”