it was less than three weeks ago that we told those sweet parents we would get answers to all of their questions no matter where our quest for the truth led us. it is the search for justice for trayvon that has brought us to this moment. the team here with me has worked tirelessly. i want to introduce bernie delirionda and john guy, my top homicide prosecutors that will lead this investigation. with us also is jim madon from the florida department of law enforcement, dominic pate, one of our special agents in charge, our share riff, john rutherford and our undersheriff, duane centerfit. we appreciate so much all of their cooperation in this. i especially want to thank my two state attorney investigators t.c. olstein and dale gilbreath investigating homicides. allow me to take a moment to acknowledge our governor, rick scott, and his office. attorney general, pam bondy and her office along with our u.s. attorney, bill o'neil for their continuing support and their support of this investigation. we spoke with all of them briefly and informed them of the results of our investigation and our plan as we continue. i can tell you we did not come to this decision lightly. this case is like a lot of the difficult cases we have handled for years here in our circuit. we have made this decision in the same manner. let me emphasize we do not prosecute by public pressure or petition. we prosecute based on the facts of any given case as well as the laws of state of florida. when they appointed us to this case less than three weeks ago, i want you to know that these two fine prosecutors, despite all that is on their plate already, handling all of the homicides in the fourth judicial circuit, supervising the other young lawyers who also handle homicides, they willingly took this case on and said, we will lead this effort to seek justice for trayvon. we launched an intensive investigation building on all of the work that sanford police department and the state attorney's office in seminole county had already done. unless you've ever been a law enforcement officers or a prosecutor handling a difficult homicide case, you can no the know what it is like this type of investigation and come to the right conclusion. the supreme court has defined our role on numerous occasions as prosecutors that we are not only ministers of justice, we are seekers of the truth. we stay true to that mission. again, we prosecute on facts and the laws of the great and sovereign state of florida. that's the way it will be in this case. when we took our oath, we pledged not only to look out for our precious victims of all of our cases but also to adhere to the rules of the criminal justice system and the rules of our constitution and statutes that protect a defendant's rights as well. when we charge a person with a crime, we are equally committed to justice on their behalf as we are on our victim's behalf. we are here to do that on behalf of our victim, trayvon martin and on behalf of the person responsibility for his death, george zimmerman. we will continue to seek the truth. every single day, our prosecutors handle difficult cases and adhere to that same standard, a never-ending search for the truth, and a quest to always do the right thing for the right reason. there is a reason cases are tried in a court of law, not in the court of the public, and not by the media, because details have to come out in excruciating and minute fashion, detail by detail, bit of evidence by bit of evidence. it is only then when the trier of fact, whether it is a judge or a jury, gets all of those details, that then the laws apply to that and a decision can be rendersed. we will skrup u usually adhere to the law. today, we filed an information charging george zimmerman with murder in the second degree. a okay fee us has been issued for his arrest. with the filing of that information and the issuance of the okay feus, he will have the right to appear within 24 hours of his arrest. thus, formal prosecution will begin. we thank all of those people that have sent positive energy and prayers our way. we ask you to continue to pray for trayvon's family as well as for our prosecution team. i want to especially thank mr. crump and mr. parks who have stayed in touch daily on behalf of our victim's family. it is trayvon's family that are our constitutional victims and have the right to know the critical stages of these proceedings. i will ientertain some question. we have very strict rules of ethics and strict rules of criminal procedure and we will be ad mering adhering to those rules. >> one at a time. >> i will confirm that mr. zimmerman is, indeed, in custody. >> could you tell us where? >> i will not tell you where. that's for his safety as well as everyone else's safety. >> was there one single -- >> we don't discuss the evidence in a case. it would be improper to do so. it was a full investigation, full facts and circumstances that lead us to any decision in any case. >> did he turn himself in or was he arrested? >> mr. zimmerman turned himself in. by turning himself in, was arrested on the capeus that had already been issued. >> why did it take so long to come to a decision? >> well, it didn't take long. we have many complicated homicides that are thoroughly investigated. remember, the prosecutor's burden under our constitution is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. >> it has been 43 days since trayvon martin -- >> i can tell you that this investigation was underway by both the sanford police department and norm wolfinger's office. the investigation was in full mode. the governor appointed us less than three weeks ago. we took the work which they had done, which was significant. we carried on with that work and arrived at our decision approximately last week. then, of course, following proper florida law and procedure, we had to make sure we had everything in place to issue this capeus and make this arrest. >> yes, sir. i'm sorry. yes, sir. >> what you uncovered that leads you to review his self-defense under the -- >> that's what will be in court, detail by detail, piece of evidence by piece of evidence, factual evidence, physical evidence, testimonial evidence. that's why we track cases in a courtroom. >> can you tell us whether mr. zimmerman is in the state of florida is there a bonding process? >> in seminole county, i want to thank their chief judge. he was very kind. he informed us they have a bond schedule. when a capeus is issued, there is originally no bond. mr. zimmerman's lawyers will be entitled to request a bond. at which point a bond hearing will be held. bond hearings are a common occurrence. our lawyers handle them every day. that's where that will be determined as to whether or not, no bond, which is the bond set currently on the capeus, will be changed by the court. [ inaudible question ] >> that would be commenting on the facts of the case. we are not going to do that at this time. >> yes, katherine. >> can you tell us why your investigation led you to a second-degree murder charge? >> well, i don't believe that question is accurate in the sense that when you have a homicide, florida's jury instructions even say that before you can reach a degree of homicide, you have to determine whether a person has committed an excusable homicide or a justifiable homicide. all murders are homicides but not all homicides are murders. florida's law clearly says that if there is the affirmative defense of excusable homicide or justifiable homicide, that should be determined before you go to the degree of the crime. that's the process this case took. the only slight delay was the fact that the governor stepped in and appointed us to take this case over and handle it and we did. >> do you believe sanford police would have arrived at the same conclusion you did? >> we work together with our law enforcement officers. i have my sheriff and undersheriff here. we work with all of our law enforcement agencies to try to work these cases together. prosecutors are law enforcement as well. we work these cases with our investigating agencies and try to come to as many mutual decisions as we can. this case was in the process when the governor stepped in and appointed us us to take it over. we have continued to work with the sanford police department. we got full cooperation in all of those significant documents and records from mr. wolfinger and bernie and john and their team looked this over and did a lot more work and we came to our conclusion based on the facts in florida aegs law. the maximum sentence of second-degree murder would be life in prison. is it your desire as the prosecutor in this case to see him go to jail for life? >> we don't make that determination at this time. what we are committed to do is get this case through the court system and then, and if it goes to the trier of fact that's the judge or the trier of the fact of the jury, once there is a decision, we would concern ourself with the sentence? i'm sorry. go ahead. i have not personally been contacted. i do understand he may have retained new counsel in the past couple of hours. >> when he turned himself in, did he have anything to say? >> if he did, i wouldn't be able to comment on it. i want you to know up front, one of the specific things we are not allowed to discuss are the statements of a defendant charged with a crime. again, it is a constitutional protection that you all should be happy law enforcement affords every person charged with a crime. >> is mr. zimmerman in did shall- >> i will not comment on where mr. zimmerman is. he is within the custody of law enforcement officers in the state of florida. he will be taken when it is appropriate for the appropriate appearance in front of a judge. >> i'm sorry. yes, sir. >> when they arrived at the scene, is that what you are saying -- >> i speak for angela corey and my prosecution team. this is the conclusion we came to based on our revow of the facts in evidence. >> i am not sure they were through with the entire investigation at the point mr. wolfinger recused himself from this case. >> are you confident you have the evidence for conviction? >> we have to have a reasonable certainty of conviction. any time there are affirmative defenses and there are numerous that be asserted before the arev, immediately after, during the trial. we have had them come up in the middle of trial, haven't we, my fellow prosecutors that sit here. we have all faced this before. al alibi is an affirmative defense. this makes a criminal prosecution more difficult. we do everything within our power to take the facts and prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. >> i am curious to get your opinion about this debate about race and justice -- >> i am going to be quite honest with you. i have some people who have lived through our justice system here. they are among the finest people in jacksonville, florida. they represent but a small sample of the people who know that those of us in law enforcement are committed to justice for every race, every gender, every person of any persuasion whatsoever. they are our victims. we only know one category as prosecutors, that's a "v." it is not a "b," it is not a "w," it is not an "h." it is "v" for victim. that's who we work tirelessly for. that's all we know, justice for our victims. we still have to maintain the constitutional rights. remember our role, ministers of justice. >>. [ inaudible question ] >> any time we take over a case, even from each other, we sometimes reinterview. we thoroughly go through the reports and try to gather more evidence. a lot of the witnesses had already made statements in public, even about have we took over this case. a thorough review of all of the statements made were done. i have the finest prosecution team ever. i know every boss feels that way but these people have the best experience you can ask for. >> i'm sorry. yes, ma'am. >> was there -- [ inaudible question ] >> what's in your mind that you can say about the facts that made you think that that community was -- >> i'm sorry. i thought i articulated very clearly that we don't discuss the facts of a case. that's for a reason. we are law enforcement. this is the criminal justice system. people's rights have to be protected. it is designed a certain way, no the only under the constitution of the united states and the state of florida. we have rules of criminal procedure, florida statutes and rules of ethics. so much information got released on this case that never should have been released. we have to protect this investigation and this prosecution for trayvon, his family and george zimmerman. that's what we will continue to do. >> did you talk to george personally at home? >> i did not. we do not talk to any defendant that's represented by counsel unless he waves his right to counsel. >> yesterday, the attorneys representing mr. zimmerman or speaking for him said they had recused themselves, because they hadn't been in contact with him. can you shed any light at all on how mr. zimmerman came to turn himself in? >> i cannot. >> is that a coordinated process? >> it is a coordinated process and law enforcement has had this under control since we have gotten this case. there was a lot of speculation about oh, my goodness, does law enforcement know where he is? do we have this under control? this is what we do every single day on behalf of our community. it is what fdle does every single day on behalf of the citizens of this great state. the governor and pam bondy put as many resources as they could on this case. i don't think there was ever a concern that if the decision was made to charge mr. zimmerman, that it would be made in a timely fashion and that law enforcement would have it under control to take him into custody. >> do you expect the trial to sha be -- >> we don't know that. >> as they said yesterday -- >> what happens with every phone call, a message was taken. i turned it over to bernie and bernie handled it from there. we called his lawyers, because, again, we don't talk to someone represented by counsel pursuant to our rules of ethics. no contact was made between mr. deliarionda. mr. guy is still prosecuting a first-degree murder case where our victim is a marine that was brutally shot. we have brutal homicides that we fight hard for all the time. we will fight just as hard in this case. yes, sir. [ inaudible question ] >> the department of justice, thank you for asking that question, they conduct their own investigation. i have been in contact with bobby o'neil, our u.s. attorney, tom battle, one of the department of justice people that has helped us with a lot of the civil rights con tetacts an issues. a whole slew of doj lawyers are helping us. they are not working on our part of the investigation. we don't work on their part of the investigation. we always share information with our federal counterparts on numerous cases when and if it is needed. >> you said you don't want to discuss the facts of the case but by the action you are taking, you are basically making the statement that you do not believe there is ground for a plausible defense? will you say that by taking that, by arresting george zimmerman, you are in fasaying standard ground does not apply in this case? >> this case is like many of the shooting deaths we have had in our circuit. if stand your ground becomes an issue, we fight it if we believe it is the right thing to do. so if it becomes an issue this this case, we will fight that affirmative defense. >> how would you say that is affected? >> my prosecutors, and a lot of them are here and i am so proud of them. they have worked tirelessly running this office while we have been working on this case, they fight these stand your ground motions. mr. moody just finished a four-day full stand your ground on a full case. some of them, we have won and we have had to appeal them. the defense is appealed. some, we have fought hard and the judge ruled against us. it is the law of the state of florida. it will be applied. justifiable use of deadly force as we all knew it was still a tough affirmative defense to overcome. we still fight these cases hard. i am not going to comment on the specific law at this time. we are law enforcement. we enforce the laws of the state of florida. if that law becomes an affirmative defense, just like alibi, insanity, entrapment or many of the other affirmative defenses, we will handle it accordingly. [ inaudible question ] >> seminole county is absolutely the venue. when we are appointed as prosecutors, with he step into the prosecution role down in seminole county. right now, it is the court of jurisdiction. it is it's venue. did we think we would be able to try the case there? did we think we would be able to try it there? that's a determination that will be made closer to if and when we pick a jury. [ inaudible question ] >> you asked about my concerns. i will tell you. there has been an overwhelming amount of publicity in this case that we hope does not keep us from being able to pick a fair and impartial jury. both the state and the defense are entitled to a fair and impartial jury. we think a lot of facts got put out. that's the problem. when it comes out in front of the jury, they are not allowed to render a decision until everything is in front of them. they are specifically instructed by the judge that they can't form a decision until they have heard everything. it is regrettable that so many facts and details got released and misconstrued. we hope that a lot of it, and the media has helped toning it down a lot and making sure that people understand florida law and the process. we hope that people will continue to do that. >> have you looked closely at how the police conducted their investigation. looking back at the sanford police department, would you say their investigation was thorough? >> i am not going to comment on that other than that they were a tremendous help to us and had already done a lot of witness interviews. they did what the police do. any time you have a shooting scene and there is a person whose death is caused, the police launch a thorough and intensive investigation. that was done here. before the investigation could be finished, there was a lot of outcry about this case. then, it changed course and we got appointed to take over the investigation. >> based on the details you know of the case, and what happened, do you think it is reasonable to expect there should have been -- >> we have numerous homicides where immediate arrests are not made. so to us it did not seem unusual. i think judgment has to be made when the final decision is reached. that's what we would have hoped the public would have waited for. some people did not wait. an arrest can only be based upon probable cause. we believe that's what the sanford police department is trying to do. if ir that is any sort of determination as to what they did or didn't do, that will be handled by someone other than our prosecution team. >> last question. >> the name of trayvon martin is at the very beginning. can you shed any more light on the conversation with them? did they express confidence that your process now can bring it to justice? >> i think that after meeting with trayvon's parents that first monday night after we got appointed in this case. bernie was there, john was there. our prosecution team was there. the first thing we did was pray with them. we opened our meeting in prayer. mr. crump and mr. parks were therement there. we did not promise them anything. we specifically talked about, if criminal charges do not come out of this, what can we help you do to make sure your son's death is not in vain. they were very kind and very receptive. mr. delarionda has been in touch with mr. crump and mrs. fulton and mr. martin. they now know that charges have been filed. they are now hearing as we speak that george zi