Child abuse? For a 6 foot tall gold teeth racist doper like trayshit?
If trayvon was 4 foot 8 and 89 pounds, and was 18, he'd be tried as an ADULT for any crimes.
So yes, legally, he just turned 17 and was a child. Legally, the 3rd degree child charge shouldn't stick anyway, but it could.
Now, the defense lawyer threatening "if you add that charge, we have a lot of TALKING to do" - he is outright threatening to filibuster and drag out this trial if they charge that.
They agreed with the manslaughter charge, and hey, surely the 3rd degree child charge shouldn't matter if they didn't prove their case, right? DEFENSE was unprepared for this, BUT since they did intro that 17 year old line of text, they SHOULD have seen this coming.