state versus george zimmerman. reporter: the prosecution wants to see george zimmerman behind bars for the rest of his life. but to do so, they need to get a second degree murder conviction. and to do that, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that zimmerman intended to kill trayvon martin out of hatred. trayvon martin was murdered. in the back of two sets of town homes, there s no street lighting back there. there s no pole lights. there were one or two porch lights on. george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. reporter: but if the prosecutors see their case slipping away, there is another option that could still put zimmerman behind bars for years. if requested, and allowed by the judge, the prosecutors can ask the jury to consider lesser charges, like aggravated
there s been a lot to talk about whether george zimmerman was overcharged when the decision came he would face second degree murder in the trayvon martin shooting. but because of a statute in florida, even with a lesser charge, he still could face decades in jail. ashleigh banfield explains. we re on the record. case number 12 cf-1383a. state versus george zimmerman. reporter: the prosecution wants to see george zimmerman behind bars for the rest of his life. but to do so, they need to get a second degree murder conviction. and to do that, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that zimmerman intended to kill trayvon martin out of hatred. trayvon martin was murdered. in the back of two sets of town homes, there s no street lighting back there. there s no pole lights. there were one or two porch lights on. george zimmerman is not guilty of murder.
wants to see george zimmerman behind bars for the rest of his life. but to do so, they need to get a second degree murder conviction. and to do that, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that zimmerman intended to kill trayvon martin out of hatred. trayvon martin was murdered. in the back of two sets of two town homes. there s no street lighting back there. there s no pole lights. there were one or two porch lights on. george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. reporter: if the prosecutors see their case slipping away, there the another option that
versus george zimmerman. reporter: the prosecution wants to see george zimmerman behind bars for the rest of his life. but to do so, they need to get a second degree murder conviction. and to do that, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that zimmerman intended to kill trayvon martin out of hatred. trayvon martin was murdered. in the back of two sets of two town homes. there s no street lighting back there. there s no pole lights. there were one or two porch lights on. george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. reporter: if the prosecutors see their case slipping away, there the another option that could still put zimmerman behind bars for years. if requested, and allowed by the judge, the prosecutors can ask the jury to consider lesser charges, like aggravated