Pending Trial

Now that Zimmerman has been arrested, the media spotlight has shifted to the issue of conducting a fair trial. A public trial may be a vehicle for the American public to process the implications of race and justice in the case, but the overwhelming media coverage and public vitriol surrounding Zimmerman make it difficult to convene an impartial jury.

With a charge of murder in the second degree, prosecutors must prove Zimmerman intended to kill Martin, and showed a "depraved" lack of regard for human life. The charge carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.

"The prosecutor threw the book at Mr. Zimmerman," former federal prosecutor Paul Butler said on an April 12 broadcast of National Public Radio. "This is the most serious charge that she could have brought. It's second-degree murder, which means that she has to prove that he had a depraved mind, that he acted willfully and maliciously."

Complicating the matter is Florida's lenient self-defense law, known as Stand Your Ground. Under the law, any person who perceives a threat to his life has a right to use a weapon without retreating first. It was on this basis that Sanford police said they released Zimmerman, because they lacked evidence that he did not act in self-defense.

Not so fast, wrote Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski in a column for the Huffington Post, under any version of the facts, Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law did not apply in the Trayvon Martin incident. If Zimmerman pursued a confrontation with Martin, then he cannot claim self-defense.

"Stand your ground means stand your ground. It doesn't mean chase after somebody who's turned their back," former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who signed the Stand Your Ground law, told reporters.

The case has also raised questions over the role of neighborhood watch groups. Zimmerman, a volunteer for an unregistered and unofficial neighborhood watch group, was legally armed. There had been eight burglaries in the neighborhood in the 15 months prior to the shooting. Yet law enforcement officials stress that Zimmerman should not have pursued Martin.

"We do not encourage — and I want to be 100 percent clear — we don't encourage any contact with [a suspicious] person," Alexandria, Va. police officer Charles Lloyd told the Alexandria Times. "It's not your job to be the police. That's why we have the vest and the training, the radios and everything the police use. That's what we're there for. You're there to make phone calls and be a good witness."

Lasting Lessons

Without mass rallies and media attention, many observers say the shooting of Trayvon Martin very likely would have gone unnoticed. The upcoming trial will have national implications for the future of a "post-racial" America. The country is still very much divided over the issue. Martin's supporters say the shooting is just a symbol of a much larger struggle against racial profiling and discrimination against African-Americans and people of color. Meanwhile, a website launched by Zimmerman to raise money for his legal defense quickly crashed under heavy traffic from donors.

For now, however, the nation takes a breath and waits for what will likely be a media circus surrounding the trial of George Zimmerman. The arrest has eased some public tension around the case, but larger questions remain.

"The mood is just … happy, but still more like a sigh of relief," Traymon Williams, 26, told the Huffington Post as he watched the news conference announcing Zimmerman's arrest in Sanford, Fla. "It feels just like when you have a headache, a migraine and you take an aspirin and you just can feel the pressure slowly starting to ease."

(Reporting from New York City)