Tom Scocca · 07/11/13 11:56AM
The jury in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin will also be allowed to consider manslaughter charges, judge Debra Nelson ruled today. The judge has yet to rule on the prosecution's request that the jury also consider charges of third-degree felony murder—on the grounds that Zimmerman's violent confrontation with an unarmed teenager was an act of child abuse. UPDATE: The third-degree felony murder charges have now been ruled out.