Prior to the release of the Zimmerman charges, I thought it was likely he would be charged some form of manslaughter rather than with murder. Murder convictions, including second-degree, require the prosecutors to prove malicious intent. And once you strip away the rhetoric from Sharpton, Jackson, and the New Black Panthers, it seemed extremely unlikely that prosecutors had enough to meet that standard. A few hours after the Zimmerman charges were announced, I sent the following in an email: