Murder charge in teen shooting case

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In this Wednesday, April 11, 2012 photo provided by the Sanford Police Department, George Zimmerman is shown in a booking photo.  (AP Photo/Sanford Police Department)

The neighbourhood watch volunteer who shot unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, after weeks of mounting tensions and protests across the U.S.

George Zimmerman, 28, could get up to life in prison if convicted. His new lawyer said Wednesday that Zimmerman will plead not guilty. Zimmerman turned himself in Wednesday night, and he is expected to appear in court Thursday.

The February shooting brought demands from civil rights leaders for Zimmerman's arrest and set off a furious debate over race and self-defence that reached all the way to the White House, where President Barack Obama observed: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges but would not disclose details of her investigation, saying: "That's why we try cases in a courtroom."

Second-degree murder is typically brought in cases when there is a fight or other confrontation that results in death but involves no premeditation to kill. It carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years behind bars when a gun is used.

Zimmerman initially was not arrested in part because of Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people wide leeway to use deadly force without having to retreat in the face of danger.

Zimmerman's new attorney, Mark O'Mara, said he will invoke the "stand your ground" law in Zimmerman's defence.

Martin's parents expressed relief over the decision to prosecute him.

"The question I would really like to ask him is, if he could look into Trayvon's eyes and see how innocent he was, would he have then pulled the trigger? Or would he have just let him go on home?" said his father, Tracy Martin.

Zimmerman's brother Robert Zimmerman Jr. told CNN on Wednesday night: "Our brother literally had to save his life by taking a life. And that's a situation nobody wants to be in, ever."

O'Mara said Zimmerman will plead not guilty. On Tuesday, Zimmerman's former lawyers withdrew from the case, saying they had lost contact with him and portraying him as in a precarious mental condition. But O'Mara said Zimmerman was OK: "I'm not concerned about his mental well-being."

Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, has asserted since the Feb. 26 killing that he shot in self-defence after the teenager attacked him. Martin's family argued Zimmerman was the aggressor, as he ignored an emergency dispatcher's advice and followed the teen through a gated community, saying he looked suspicious.

Some legal experts had predicted the prosecutor would bring a charge of manslaughter, which carries up to 15 years behind bars. It is defined as a death that results from a reckless but not a depraved act.

Legal experts said Corey must have compelling evidence against Zimmerman if she chose to charge him with second-degree murder.

"That indicates they have evidence (Zimmerman) was chasing Trayvon because he was black," said Florida defence attorney Richard Hornsby. "It's difficult to think how one prosecutor didn't charge him at all and another thought there was enough evidence to justify a second-degree charge. It's a pretty drastic swing."

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Farrington reported from Tallahassee, Florida.