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Angela Corey
Born	Angela B. Corey (1954-10-31) October 31, 1954 (age 70) Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Education	Juris Doctor, University of Florida
Alma mater	University of Florida
Occupation	attorney
Employer	State of Florida
Title	State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit
Term	2009–2013
Predecessor	Harry Shorstein
Successor	incumbent
Political party	Republican

Angela B. Corey (born October 31, 1954) is an American attorney currently serving as the State Attorney in Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties. The first woman to hold the position, she was elected in 2008. On March 22, 2012, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that she would be the newly assigned State Attorney investigating the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, replacing State Attorney Norm Wolfinger.

Background

Corey was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, where she attended Englewood High School. Corey is of Arabic (Syrian) descent. After graduation, she majored in marketing at Florida State University before she decided to try a legal career. After receiving her Juris Doctor degree at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, she did legal research while preparing for the Florida bar examination, then spent 18 months defending medical malpractice lawsuits with Howell & Howell, PA. She later became board certified in criminal trial law.

Prosecutions

She was hired by Ed Austin in 1981 during his tenure as State Attorney from 1975 to 1991, and remained an Assistant State Attorney after Harry Shorstein was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1991. During her 26 years as a prosecutor, she tried several hundred cases, which included 54 homicides.

In 1996, her primary responsibility became homicide prosecutions, but she also supervised lawyers in the Felony division. Shorstein changed Corey's work assignment in 2005 from director of the Gun Crime Unit to director of the County Court, which handles misdemeanors. In that position, she trained newly hired lawyers to be prosecutors. She previously served as Juvenile division supervisor.

State Attorney

Corey made the decision to run for the office of State Attorney in 2006. After her candidacy became known, her working relationship with Shorstein became difficult. He terminated her employment in November 2006. Afterwards, she was hired by John Tanner, State Attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, to perform the same job functions she did in Jacksonville, working homicide cases in St. Johns County.

The following day, Shorstein called a news conference and announced that he would retire at the end of his current term and not run for re-election in 2008. In the following election, Shorstein supported his chief assistant, Jay Plotkin. On August 26, 2008, Corey defeated Plotkin with more than 64% of the votes cast.

Upon taking office, Corey terminated 10 assistant state attorneys, over half of the investigators, and 48 support employees. In 2010, the Florida Times-Union reported that Corey sent 230 juvenile felony cases to adult court in 2009. This amounted to twice the number of juvenile felony cases placed in adult court in the years prior to Corey becoming State Attorney.

Cristian Fernandez case

In 2011 Corey's office oversaw a case in which 12-year-old Cristian Fernandez was accused of killing his two-year-old brother. Corey sought and received a grand jury indictment of Fernandez on charges of homicide and aggravated child abuse, and decided to try him as an adult. This move, which made Fernandez the youngest person ever to face a murder charge in Jacksonville's history, drew criticism and protests to send the case to juvenile court instead, but Corey held that the juvenile system was inadequate to handle a crime of this magnitude. However, Corey stated she did not intend for Fernandez to stand trial or serve a life sentence, but would rather accept a plea deal. As of February 1, 2012 the defense and prosecution had not agreed to a plea deal, but were still in discussion. A trial was scheduled for February 27, 2012, but was postponed until September 10, 2012.

Trayvon Martin case

On March 22, 2012, Florida governor Rick Scott appointed Angela Corey as Special Prosecutor to investigate the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. On the evening of February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida, George Zimmerman, a 28 year-old alleged neighborhood watch volunteer armed with a 9mm firearm, shot to death Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17 year-old, in a crime-ridden gated community. A few hours after the killing, the Sanford Police Department determined that there was no "probable cause" to arrest George Zimmerman, who claimed that he acted in "self-defense" against the unarmed teenager who was walking back to his father's fiancee's house after purchasing a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles at a local convenience store. Zimmerman told police that Martin was the aggressor and photos of Zimmerman the night of the incident show him with a bloodied, broken nose amongst other injuries. The decision by Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee and Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger not to arrest and charge Zimmerman with a crime triggered national outrage fueled by social media including a petition on Change.org calling for the prosecution of George Zimmerman which garnered over 2.2 million signatures, the largest in Change.org's history. Following growing protests, including some 30,000 people in Sanford, Florida alone, as well as media coverage and engagement of the FBI, both police chief Bill Lee and state attorney Norm Wolfinger resigned from the investigation and state attorney Angela Corey took over. The case has fueled a national debate over racial profiling, gun control, institutional racism in law enforcement agencies, and the role of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) in pushing for pro-gun laws like Florida's "Stand Your Ground" bill.

On April 11, 2012, Corey charged George Zimmerman with murder in the second degree. Corey held a globally broadcasted press conference to explain her decision. She stated, "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. And we made this decision in the same manner. Let me emphasize that we do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition. We prosecute based on the facts of any given case, as well as the laws of the state of Florida." When asked by a reporter about the issue of race and justice in the case, Corey stated, "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, and that’s a V. It’s not a B, it’s not a W, it’s not an H. It’s V, for 'victim'. That’s who we work tirelessly for."

Corey's decision to charge Zimmerman was praised by supporters of the Justice for Trayvon movement across the country. Natalie Jackson, a Martin family attorney, stated, "It's actually a very brave charge of Angela Corey, and it really shows that she conducted an independent, impartial and fair investigation in this case... She could have easily charged this as a manslaughter, to try to appease everyone, and she didn't. She did what prosecutors do. She charged it to the hilt". On the other hand, Corey was criticized as "irresponsible and reckless" by Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard legal scholar and attorney who served on O.J. Simpson's defense team, for filing a probable cause affidavit that he claims was too thin for a 2nd-degree murder charge; Dershowitz predicted that it would be thrown out by a judge.

On April 12, 2012, Seminole County Judge Mark Herr found the affidavit legally sufficient to establish probable cause and ordered Zimmerman to appear for his arraignment on May 29, 2012. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin stated, "I suspect that there is some evidence we just don't know about, because no prosecutor in a high-profile case wants to walk into court and not be able to prove each and every count beyond a reasonable doubt".

Some critics, including Dershowitz, believe that Corey, an elected official, treated her press conference as a sort of campaigning opportunity. A Reuters article also indicates that some of Zimmerman's neighbors who claimed they saw signs of injury on Zimmerman the day after the shooting "said they spoke to Sanford police and the FBI in their investigations but did not recall speaking to the office of special prosecutor Angela Corey". On the other hand, US attorney and legal analyst Kendall Coffey referred to Corey's presentation as "masterful" and that she made "a very compelling statement about her commitment to victims... So, if you were scoring that press conference, I give it an A plus".

In response to his harsh criticism, Dershowitz claims Corey called Harvard Law School and, "threatened to sue the institution, get me disciplined by the Bar, and made accusations of libel and slander".

Marissa Alexander case

In May 2012, Angela Corey prosecuted 31-year-old Marissa Alexander and obtained a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Alexander had defended herself by firing a gun in the direction of her abusive husband, a man who admitted to past incidents of domestic violence, including a 2009 incident that put Alexander in the hospital. Alexander had no prior criminal record and possessed a court-issued protective order against her husband at the time of the attack. She was first offered a plea bargain of a 3 year sentence. Upon turning it down, she was prosecuted by Corey resulting in a conviction and sentence that has been called harsh. Critics of the prosecution include U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown who accused Corey of being overzealous, and labeled the case “institutional racism.”

Ronald Thompson case

In 2009, Ronald Thompson, a 65-year old Army veteran fired two shots into the ground to scare off teenagers who were demanding entry into his friend's house in Keystone Heights, Florida.

Angela Corey prosecuted Thompson for aggravated assault, and after he refused a plea agreement with a three-year prison sentence, won a conviction that would carry a mandatory 20-year sentence under Florida's 10-20-Life statute. The trial judge, Fourth Circuit Judge John Skinner called the 20-year sentence "a crime in itself" and declared the 10-20-Life statute unconstitutional. Skinner gave Thompson three years instead.

Angela Corey appealed the 3-year sentence and won, sending Thompson to prison for 20 years.

In June 2012, Fourth Circuit Judge Don Lester granted Thompson a new trial, ruling that the jury instructions had been flawed in his original trial regarding the justifiable use of deadly or non-deadly force given the circumstances of the case. Thompson has been freed and awaits a decision by Angela Corey's office on a new trial.

Teaching

Since the 1990s, Corey has taught legal concepts at a number of schools, including the University of North Florida, Florida Community College at Jacksonville and the Florida Police Corps. Topics range from interrogation techniques to search and seizure to courtroom demeanor. Due to her extensive homicide experience, she receives training requests from law enforcement agencies all over the United States.

Awards

The Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency gave her their Criminal Justice Distinguished Award; the Florida Department of Corrections honored her as a Role Model for Women in the Area of Criminal Justice award; the Mayor's Victim Assistance Advisory Council bestowed the Judicial Victim Advocate Award; and Corey received the Distinguished Service Award from the office where she's now the boss.

References

1. Angela Corey First Woman in Local State Attorney's Seat First Coast News WTLV, August 27, 2008
2. Governor Rick Scott Announces New State Attorney and Task Force in Response to Trayvon Martin Incident
3. 2008 Angela Corey Campaign Website
4. ^ Jacksonville-Newly elected State Attorney Angela Corey About.com
5. ^ Chamness, Monica: Profile: Angela Corey Jacksonville Daily Record, February 8, 2002
6. ^ Murphy, Bridget: Shorstein dismisses longtime assistant Florida Times-Union, November 17, 2006
7. Treen, Dana: Fired Shorstein assistant lands job with man he's investigating Florida Times-Union, February 6, 2007
8. Weeder, Roger: Harry Shorstein Not Running for Re-election First Coast News WTLV, February 6, 2007
9. 2008 Election results, Duval Supervisor of Elections
10. Corey cuts 10 from her staff Florida Times-Union, September 20, 2008
11. New state attorney axes half of her investigators Florida Times-Union, September 16, 2008
12. Corey drops 48 more, turns attention to hiring Jacksonville Journal, October 31, 2008
13. Crime: Getting tough Florida Times-Union, July 15, 2010
14. Murphy, Bridget (December 12, 2011). "Defense for Cristian Fernandez files new motions" The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
15. Murphy, Bridget (October 6, 2011). "Prosecutor not seeking life in prison for Cristian Fernandez" The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
16. "Cristian Fernandez Case: No Grand Jury Thursday as Planned" (December 12, 2011). firstcoastnews.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
17. "Cristian Fernandez won't stand trial, spend life in prison" (October 6, 2011). firstcoastnews.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
18. "Child murder suspect Cristian Fernandez's case sparks outrage" Fox News Latino, October 19, 2011
19. "Cristian Fernandez murder trial set for Sept. 10 Florida Times Union, April 24, 2012
20. "Photo shows bloody-nose Zimmerman after Trayvon killing". AP.
21. "Prosecute the killer of our son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin". Change.org.
22. "45 Days After Killing Trayvon Martin & Sparking National Outcry, George Zimmerman Finally Charged". Democracy Now!. Democracy Now!. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
23. ^ CNN Wire Staff. "Experts argue appropriateness of murder charge in Martin case," CNN April 12, 2012, accessed April 13, 2012.
24. "Harvard Law prof: Charges against Zimmerman won't hold up". Hardball with Chris Matthews. MSNBC. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
25. Alcindor, Yamiche. "Zimmerman held pending arraignment in Trayvon shooting," USA TODAY April 12, 2012, accessed April 13, 2012.
26. Reuters."Trayvon Martin's killer showed signs of injury: neighbors," Reuters April 16, 2012, accessed April 19, 2012.
27. "Zimmerman charged with second-degree murder". PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton. MSNBC. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
28. Jeff Weiner, "Dershowitz: Zimmerman prosecutor ranted against Harvard", Orlando Sentinel, 6 Jun 2012.
29. "Angela Corey lashes out at critics of Marissa Alexander prosecution". Thegrio.com. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
30. ""Stand Your Ground" defense fails in Florida shooting case". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
31. "Florida woman sentenced to 20 years in controversial warning shot case". CNN. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
32. ^ "Due to mandatory minimum, Keystone veteran gets a sentence that a judge calls 'a crime'". The Gainesville Sun. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
33. Cindy Swirko (2012-06-27). "Man who got 20 years for shooting at ground gets a new trial". The Gainesville Sun. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |pmd=, |trans_title=, and |deadurl= (help)

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