Trayvon Martin Case: Prosecutor Will Not Use Grand Jury
The Trayvon Martin case will not be presented before a Grand Jury on Tuesday after Special prosecutor Angela Corey decided against doing so on Monday.
Although the former prosecutor in the case had previously announced that it would be sent to a Grand Jury on April 10, Corey, who has since taken over the case, confirmed that a Grand Jury would not be used.
"The decision should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case," Corey's office said in a statement issued to CNN on Monday.
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The Department of Justice and the FBI are still investigating 17-year-old Martin's death and the Martin family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, said that Corey's decision not to use a Grand Jury was a good sign.
"We were anticipating that there would be no grand jury, because the family has always been hopeful that there would just simply be an arrest. We believed, from day one, that they had enough evidence to arrest the killer of Trayvon Martin and now, as the evidence has continued to unfold, we think there has been a plethora of evidence to simply effect probable cause to do an arrest -- not for a conviction, but for an arrest," Crump told CNN.
Crump explained that the slain teen's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are anxiously awaiting on the arrest of self appointed neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Martin outside of his Sanford, Fla., home on Feb. 26.
"We want a very public trial so the evidence can come out and show people that the justice system works for everybody," Crump said.
The case has sparked nationwide debate about Florida's controversial "stand your ground law," which commentators suggest Zimmerman, 28, will use to support his self defense claim, if he is ever officially charged in Martin's death.
Martin was reportedly found unarmed carrying a bag of skittles and Ice Tea after he was killed by Zimmerman, and a growing number of critics including Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton insist that the teen's death was likely the result of a race hate attack on Zimmerman's part. However, Zimmerman has denied the accusations and has insisted that he was attacked by Martin and acted in self-defense.
"Zimmerman should be arrested! There's more than enough probable cause to arrest him. The whole claim of self-defense is bogus. How do you claim self-defense against someone you are pursuing?" Sharpton told the Huffington Post.
"It is an unbelievable burden, and hard to articulate, that you're born automatically a suspect, and you have to operate and behave in a way that does not exacerbate or incite someone's paranoia," he added.
