Topic: Decline of the West
A great sigh of relief went up when the special prosecutor in the Treyvon Martin case charged George Zimmerman with second-degree murder. But maybe people should have held their breath. For as Alan Dershowitz has pointed out, the charging instrument submitted by prosecutor Angela Corey in no way establishes probable cause for a charge of murder two.
Florida law defines second-degree murder in these words: “The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual.” Dershowitz notes, however, that the prosecution’s charging instrument does not suggest probable cause to believe Zimmerman had a “depraved mind regardless of human life” when he shot Martin. On the contrary, the facts provided are entirely consistent with Zimmerman’s self-defense claim. Dershowitz suspects that the second-degree murder charge was a political move by Corey, an elected public official.
To call his suspicion is plausible would be a considerable understatement. I’m no lawyer, but I was quite startled when Cory came out with a second-degree murder charge. Her dramatic announcement of the charge led me to believe that the prosecution must have developed some pretty damning evidence against Zimmerman. But as Dershowitz points out, the charging instrument doesn’t even establish probable cause.
Treyvon Martin and his family deserve justice. So does George Zimmerman. But in a case like this, justice is probably too much to hope for.
