They should treat it as attempted vehicular manslaughter, like when a drunk driver hits someone.
Even so if I were on the jury, it’d be hung.
This is actually a very hard case to prosecute, and I suspect that it has already been fouled up more than a little.
To start with, Murder 1 makes no sense in this context, unless it was a bluff to get the defendant to plead guilty for some other charge, which is very common. But the defendant is so angry that he called the bluff. But then again, prosecutors sometimes “throw” cases by overcharging, knowing that a jury will acquit, but without making the prosecutor look weak or bad.
Murder 2, Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide, and other charges would be a lot more likely to get a conviction. But the prosecutor is probably afraid of being “Trayvon’ed” by the local agitators and media.
Personally, I think this comes under “schoolyard rules” from days of yore. If a student is picked on by a bully and then punches him out, it is a “fair exchange”. But if a student is picked on by a bully and later ambushes said bully, it is a “cheap shot”.
In this case, using a vehicle to chase the a petty thief boy was okay, but not slamming in to him. Too much force, and obviously in the heat of anger.