[Ken H]

It looks to me like Zimmerman opens himself up to federal hate crime charges if he plea bargains to a lesser offense. And the lesser the penalty, the more the doj will be pressured to step in.

If I'm in his shoes, I go all out for innocence and let the chips fall.

[TigersEye]

I don’t see how that happens at all. But I don’t think he should plea bargain. The case is pathetically weak and would be even for manslaughter. IMO he should fight it on simple grounds of self defense.