What's next for George Zimmerman?
NBC NEWS - George Zimmerman still faces federal scrutiny and a possible civil suit that could compel him to do something he avoided at his trial...
Acquitted of second-degree murder by a Florida jury, George Zimmerman still faces federal scrutiny and a possible civil suit that could compel him to do something he avoided at his trial: testify.
The not-guilty verdict Saturday night spells the end of the riveting state criminal case against Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense in the death of Trayvon Martin, but his legal odyssey may be far from over.
“We clearly must move on to the next step in terms of the federal government and the civil courts,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said on MSNBC after the verdict.
The Justice Department began looking into the case less than a month after the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting, and the NAACP launched a MoveOn.org petition Sunday calling for civil rights charges.
In April 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder said there would be a “high bar” to make it a federal case.
“For a federal hate crime we have to prove the highest standard in the law. You know, something that was reckless, that was negligent does not meet that standard. We have to show that there was specific intent to do the crime with the requisite state of mind,” Holder said then.
NBC legal analyst Kendall Coffey said he would be surprised if the feds step in, though, especially since Florida prosecutors did not make race an issue in the criminal case.
“To my recollection, there was no evidence during the trial that would add to a hate-crime theme,” Coffey said. “The record that this trial creates, as well as the outcome, do not hand authorities additional tools to invoke federal jurisdictions.”
Rod Vereen, a lawyer who represents Martin friend and prosecution witness Rachel Jeantel, said that it would be unusual for the Justice Department to bring a civil-rights case against a private individual — as opposed to law-enforcement personnel — acquitted of murder.
“I know that there is a petition going around,” Vereen said outside the church where the Martin family attended services Sunday. “I doubt very seriously that anything is going to come of it now.”
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