yolland
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- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
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Manslaughter is a lesser included offense to second-degree murder; there'd be nothing stopping a jury from convicting Zimmerman of the lesser charge, should they reject both his self-defense claim and the prosecution's attempt to prove murder 2. It's possible they deliberately overcharged in an attempt to bait him into a plea deal; though that's unethical, prosecutors do it all the time, often with strong approval from the community which sees it as "tough on crime."
It's also possible Zimmerman's lawyer could skip SYG altogether and just go for self-defense; while that shifts the burden of proof to the defense, it'd also offer the advantage(?) that Zimmerman wouldn't have to take the stand and submit to cross-examination.
It's also possible Zimmerman's lawyer could skip SYG altogether and just go for self-defense; while that shifts the burden of proof to the defense, it'd also offer the advantage(?) that Zimmerman wouldn't have to take the stand and submit to cross-examination.