The Trayvon Martin shooting case remained one of Florida's top stories Thursday as Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said state and federal investigations into the case should be completed before any consideration is given to setting up a special committee to review the "Stand Your Ground" law.
Hours later, Gov. Rick Scott announced the creation of a task force that will do exactly that.
Haridopolos said Thursday he has met with Sens. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, and Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, and talked with Gov. Rick Scott over the senators request for a special prosecutor to oversee a Seminole County grand jury investigation into Martins death.
One thing were not going to do is interfere with an investigation, Haridopolos said. The FDLE and other associated law enforcement agencies are clearly stepping up here to find all the facts, and the last thing Id like as a citizen, let alone a politician, is meddling in that investigation.
Siplin plans to lead a bipartisan fact-finding mission to the Central Florida community, while Braynon has led calls for a legislative review of the 2005 "Stand Your Ground" law, also known as the Castle Doctrine.
Haridopolos said the reported accounts of Martins death appear to differ from the intent of the states Castle Doctrine.
As an elected official, as an academic, the way you conduct yourself is you get every fact in as soon as possible before you start making prescriptions, Haridopolos said.
Martin, 17, was shot about 7:15 p.m. Feb. 26 while walking through a Sanford gated community, returning from a 7-Eleven where he'd bought Skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea.
Sanford police have said they couldn't arrest George Zimmerman, the gunman, because he claimed self-defense -- under the states "Stand Your Ground law" -- and evidence backed that up, including witness accounts and what officers saw when they arrived: Zimmerman with a bloody nose.
Siplin, saying there is a plantation-like atmosphere in Sanford, said the goal of the fact-finding would be to determine if legislation could be crafted for the 2013 session to address the bastions of racism that exist in Sanford.
The grand jury is scheduled to convene April 10.
Scott has ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the case alongside the FBI and U.S. Justice Department investigators. On Thursday he went a step further, announcing a new attorney is taking over the state investigation.
Assistant State Attorney Angela B. Corey will replace Norman Wolfinger. Corey will report to a newly formed task force when her investigation is complete.
As law enforcement investigates the death of Trayvon Martin, Floridians and others around the country have rightly recognized this as a terrible tragedy, Scott said in a statement accompanying the announcement of Coreys appointment and the task forces formation. Like all Floridians, I believe we must take steps to ensure tragedies like this are avoided.
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll will lead the task force and the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., the pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, will be its vice chairman. Other members will be appointed with the recommendations of Attorney General Pam Bondi; House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park; Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island; Senate President-designate Don Gaetz, R-Niceville; and House Speaker-designate Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.
The task force will conduct a review -- including public hearings -- of the Stand Your Ground law.
In another development, Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. called an afternoon news conference to announce he is going to temporarily step down because my role as the leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation."
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
