Prosecutors will be allowed to tell jurors that George Zimmerman “profiled” black teenager Trayvon Martin before their deadly confrontation, as long as they don’t use the term exclusively to refer to race, the judge ruled Friday.
Lawyers for Zimmerman, who is of white and Hispanic descent, had asked the Florida court to bar prosecutors from using the term during opening statements, which are slated for Monday morning.
During a pre-trial hearing, assistant state attorney John Guy argued that the word “profiled” doesn’t necessarily mean someone was singled out because of their race, but could refer to their age, clothes or type of car they were driving.
“We don’t intend to make it a racially charged term,” Guy said.
Defense lawyer Mark O’Mara argued that in the public’s mind it would be hard to separate the concept of profiling from race, saying it was like “peanut butter and jelly.”
“I’m very very concerned that we now potentially infect the jury with a racial component,” O’Mara said.
Judge Debra Nelson ruled that prosecutors should avoid terms such as “racial profiling” but could use profiled alone.
She also said prosecutors can refer to Zimmerman as a “vigilante” or “wannabe cop” in openings, over the objection of the defense.
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