After eight months of rallying, picketing, editorializing, court dates, speculation and incredibly bitter anger, the trial date of accused murderer George Zimmerman has finally been set: June 10.
The date was established during a court hearing this morning before the new judge, Debra Nelson. The trial is expected to last about three weeks, but jury selection may take even longer than that, as the racial composition of the jury will be as closely watched as the trial itself.
With all the attention the case has garnered, Zimmerman’s trial is expected to be as closely watched as the trials of such famous defendants as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson.
Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Trayvon Martin, 17, during a confrontation in a Sanford, Florida, subdivision on Feb. 26, setting off a national outcry when police refused to arrest Zimmerman, saying he hadn’t done anything wrong under Florida’s Stand Your Ground defense. It wasn’t until a special prosecutor was assigned to the case that Zimmerman was arrested.
After the hearing, Zimmerman’s defense team sent out tweet saying they will likely seek a hearing under the “stand your ground” law in the months leading up to trial.
The “self-defense immunity hearing [is] likely to be requested for April or May,” the tweet said.
Neither George nor Shellie Zimmerman, who are in hiding somewhere in Florida, supposedly in Seminole County, appeared in court today.
On Friday, Judge Nelson will preside over a hearing about whether to allow Zimmerman lawyer Mark O’Mara to subpoena Trayvon’s school records and whether the public should know about future defense subpoenas and what evidence they produce. She’ll also hear argument from the lawyers about whether prosecutors are entitled to George Zimmerman’s medical records.
