I read (elsewhere) that the prosecution had the liberty to press multiple charges - which is customary in these sorts of cases. But he didn’t, preferring to place all of his eggs (so to speak) in one basket. That leaves them no wriggle-room for anything except an up or down on the single charge.
Mind you I’m not an attorney and only passing along something I had read.
I have grave misgivings about this whole fiasco. Zimmerman should never have been charged (insufficient evidence of a crime), far too much judicial misconduct on the part of the Prosecutor and Judge for a fair trial, and then when they actually go to trial the prosecutions case is a joke.
It makes me suspicious of an ulterior motive AKA railroading.
IMO
I read something substantially similar, that because the prosecutor filed only 2nd degree murder that there can be no lesser included offense. I don’t see any way that the State of Florida can substantiate one of the key elements a proof - that GZ acted with a depraved state of mind without regard to human life.
That said, I would not be surprised that after he gets off, that Holder’s Justice Dept will try him for depriving Trayvon of his civil liberties. This would be similar to a case where a police officer named Johannes Mehserle was tried and acquitted for 2nd degree murder for shooting an unarmed black civilian named Oscar Grant but but was found guilty of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. Riots followed this verdict where some 80 people were arrested. The U.S. Justice Department then opened a civil rights case against Mehserle.
So, I think the same thing can happen in this case. The federal government can prosecute GZ independently for the same act under the separate sovereigns exception to double jeopardy.