A Florida judge questioned George Zimmerman today on his decision to waive a hearing under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which means that he is likely heading for a trial this summer in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
The pre-trial Stand Your Ground hearing would have given the judge the discretion to free Zimmerman, eliminating the need for a trial. But the validity of a Stand Your Ground defense would be determined solely by a judge. Zimmerman’s defense team has decided to put their case before an entire jury.
“We’d much rather have the jury address the issue of criminal liability or lack thereof,” Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara said.
Zimmerman’s team hinted it might resurrect the Stand Your Ground immunity hearing during the trial, and it is possible even after it.
Zimmerman spoke in court for the first time in over a year, answering “Yes, your honor” and “No, your honor” to a series of questions from Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson. Nelson was seeking to confirm a decision by Zimmerman’s lawyer to invoke the Stand Your Ground defense.
Zimmerman, 29, has pleaded not guilty, claiming he shot Martin, 17, in self defense as the two struggled on the ground for Zimmerman’s gun. Martin was killed in February 2012 in Sanford, Fla., where Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch captain
