Prosecutors convinced the judge presiding over George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial Thursday to allow jurors to consider manslaughter, but their surprise bid to include felony murder -- based on child abuse -- in the jury instructions was denied after a heated morning session in which an angry defense attorney called the effort a "trick."
Judge Debra Nelson ruled against the prosecution's request that jurors be able to consider a third-degree felony murder charge based on child abuse. Under felony murder statutes, a defendant can be charged with murder if he or she causes someone's death while committing a felony, in this case, according to the prosecution, child abuse. At 17, Trayvon Martin was a minor when he was killed.
"I just don’t think that the evidence supports that," Nelson said of the felony murder charge. "And if I’m not sure about that, I’m not going to charge the jury on that."
Earlier, defense attorney Don West bristled when the prosecution first proposed the third-degree felony murder charge, alleging it was a "trick" by the state.
"Just when I thought this case couldn't get any more bizarre, the state is seeking third degree murder charges based on child abuse?" he said after the prosecution's request. "It's outrageous that the state would seek to do this at this point."
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