The lesser included manslaughter charge, and why the Zimmerman case ISN'T Casey Anthony redux
People keep obsessing that the state somehow "overcharged" Zimmerman with the 2nd Degree Murder charge (which does require proof of a callous disregard for human life but does not require proof of premeditation like 1st Degree does) but forget that even if Zimmerman is acquitted of 2nd Degree Murder he could still be convicted of Manslaughter (which merely requires that Zimmerman reckless actions caused Martin's death.)
There's a fine line between callous disregard for life and recklessness, but arguably both are still on the table. The state does not have to prove that Zimmerman set out to kill Trayvon.
An example where the state did overcharge was the Casey Anthony murder case, where she was charged with 1st Degree, premeditated capital murder. Not that Casey didn't lie to investigators (to which she was convicted) and that her actions weren't suspicious and stunk to high heavens. However, in that case, the remains of Caylee had deteriorated so much when they were found that it was impossible to get an exact cause of death. Could have been intentional murder, could have been recklessness, could have been negligence, might even have been totally natural--it just wasn't clear. For whatever reason, the state decided to proceed with 1st Degree murder and make the argument that Casey intentionally killed her daughter because she wanted to resume her old partying lifestyle. That certainly was a plausible argument to make, but without an actual cause of death, it was all just speculation.
Of course, even a manslaughter conviction was hard to get for Anthony because the state had pretty much locked itself into the story that Casey intentionally killed her daughter and that was the story they chose to present to the jury. Arguing that Caylee died due to some act of recklessness or negligence and then Casey covered it up (also quite a plausible theory) was something of an afterthought after the state had spent so much effort claiming Caylee's death was 1st degree premeditated murder. (Not to mention that even in light of manslaughter, the state still couldn't definitively show the cause of death, so that still would have been a major obstacle to overcome even with a lower bar of culpability).
Here, the question of whether Zimmerman acted merely recklessly or with callous disregard for Travyon's life is a much closer question. Plus we are dealing with a smaller set of disputed facts. Unlike Casey Anthony (and OJ Simpson) we aren't dealing with a Defendant who is denying committing the homicide. So there's no talk of alibis or whodunit--it's a straight whydunit.
So all the concerns that Zimmerman was "overcharged" or that this case is the next Casey Anthony/OJ Simpson case is overwrought, IMHO. For now, let's trust the legal system.
= new reply since forum marked as read
