Florida Law May Hobble Prosecution in Trayvon Martin Case
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Florida prosecutors seeking to convict a neighborhood watch volunteer of murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager may be hamstrung by the state’s own laws in a case defense lawyers said will also hinge on physical evidence and emergency call recordings.
George Zimmerman shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, on Feb. 26 in Sanford, a central-Florida town of 54,000 people north of Orlando. Zimmerman, 28, told authorities in the aftermath that he shot Martin in self-defense, a potent claim in a state with a law allowing the use of force instead of retreat by citizens who fear for their life.