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The special prosecutor in the case, Angela Corey, has refused to explain exactly how she arrived at the charge. But in the affidavit, prosecutors said Zimmerman spotted Martin while patrolling his gated community, got out of his vehicle and followed the young man.

Prosecutors interviewed a friend of Martin's who was talking to him over the phone moments before the shooting. His parents' lawyer has said that Martin was talking to his girlfriend back in Miami."During this time, Martin was on the phone with a friend and described to her what was happening," the affidavit said. "The witness advised that Martin was scared because he was being followed through the complex by an unknown male and didn't know why."

During a recorded call to a police dispatcher, Zimmerman "made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated 'these a------s, they always get away' and also said 'these f-----g punks,' said the affidavit, available at .http://apne.ws/Itn7Nu

It continued: "When the police dispatcher realized Zimmerman was pursuing Martin, he instructed Zimmerman not to do that and that the responding officer would meet him. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher and continued to follow Martin who was trying to return to his home."

"Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued," prosecutors said in their account.

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legal experts warned there is a real chance it could get thrown out before it ever goes to trial because of Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people a broad right to use deadly force without having to retreat from a fight.

At a pretrial hearing, Zimmerman's lawyers would only have to prove by a preponderance of evidence - a relatively low legal standard - that he acted in self-defense in order to get a judge to toss out the second-murder charges. And if that fails and the case does go to trial, the defense can raise the argument all over again.

There's a "high likelihood it could be dismissed by the judge even before the jury gets to hear the case," Florida defense attorney Richard Hornsby said. Karin Moore, an assistant professor of law at Florida A&M University, said the law "puts a tremendous burden on the state to prove that it wasn't self-defense."

bhambadger wrote:

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This is my main sticking point. If the prosecutor can make the case that since Zimmerman pursued against word of the 911 operator, doesn't that automatically nullify the stand your ground claim? He was in a car, got out and followed Martin, thus making the first move in the incident. If anyone would have had a stand your ground case, it's Martin. 

yanked wrote:

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Your point was always the logical one.   There was never a hint of institutional racism.....all you have is a law that liberals don't like.   Fight that on its merits.   Making it about institutional racism was silly from the get-go, fighting the law itself makes sense.   Its a losing battle but at least it makes sense.