George Zimmerman's First Apperance

Today, April 12 2012, George Zimmerman had his first appearance in front of a judge in Florida. First appearances are brief; basically the judge goes over the charges against the defendant, and  prosecutors file affidavits to establish enough probable cause to continue with the process.( read affidavit) http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/120412_Zimmerman_CauseAffidavit.pdf. Zimmerman is scheduled to appear in court in a few weeks for his arraignment hearing in which the judge will formally read the charges against him. For those of you who are not following this cases, George Zimmerman was charged with the murder of Trayvon Martin on February 26 of the present year in the state of Florida. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watcher in a suburban area of  Seminole County when he ignored police orders and went to pursue Martin, pursue that ended with the death of Martin by a gun shoot on his stomach. This case is considered highly controversial not only because there is racial profiling involved, but also because thanks to a law in Florida called "Stand your Ground" Zimmerman might be found immune from prosecution. "Stand your Ground" is a controversial law in Florida which allows, in some cases, the use of deadly force in self defense when there is reasonable belief of a threat without an obligation to retreat first. This is certainly a very sad case in which many people have been affected. On one side Martin's family is mourning the death of their 17 year-old son, and on the other side Zimmerman is facing charges of second degree murder and a possibility of a sentence to life in prison. Defense experts are already speculating that Zimmerman might take the stand at the evidentiary hearing to explain why killing Martin was an act of self defense. The standard of proof in this type of hearings is preponderance of evidence, which is a lower standard than beyond the reasonable doubt. I will keep following this case very close...
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/12/11166967-george-zimmerman-expected-to-take-the-stand-in-trayvon-martin-murder-case-legal-observers-say?lite