George Zimmerman is a free man. But his legal troubles may not be over, despite his acquittal on charges he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The former neighborhood watch volunteer is now in hiding after Saturday’s verdict. But the U.S. Justice Department is conducting an investigation, and civil rights leaders like the head of the NAACP want charged Zimmerman with a federal crime.
“It should not be the case that somebody would be able to track, to taunt and to kill a young man on the streets,” said NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.
NECN legal analyst Randy Chapman says federal authorities could indeed charge Zimmerman with a criminal civil rights violation.
“We saw that in the Rodney King case,” said Chapman. “In the Rodney King case, the police officers were acquitted at the state level and then were subsequently indicted and convicted at the federal level and served 30 months in prison.”
That’s one option for the parents of Trayvon Martin, who have already established a foundation in the name of their son to prevent this kind of thing from happening to others. And they are considering a civil suit against Zimmerman, which would target any of his current or future assets.
“He may be somebody that would receiving money as a result of a book deal, or television deals and they may seek to recover those,” said Chapman. “The standard of proof in civil case is substantially less than it would be in a criminal case.”
[NECN]