San Diego ( CNN ) -- The case against Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman -- which has , for the last several weeks , been exhaustively tried in the court of public opinion -- is now headed where it belongs : to a court of law . Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced Wednesday that Zimmerman would be charged with second-degree murder in the tragic death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin . The 28-year-old Zimmerman , who had been in hiding even from his own attorneys , turned himself in to authorities and is in police custody awaiting a hearing on the charges . For those Americans who think that Zimmerman acted in self-defense to save his own life , the decision to charge him is tantamount to giving in to a mob . In fact , as I skipped from one conservative talk radio show to another Wednesday afternoon , that 's how I heard it described by hosts and callers alike . Yet , for those who believe that Zimmerman was the aggressor in this fateful encounter , that he racially profiled Martin and then essentially hunted him down , the decision represents something else : justice . That 's how Martin 's family described it in applauding Zimmerman 's arrest . Personally , I 'm thankful the suspect is in custody . And that has nothing to do with which team I 'm on -- Team Martin or Team Zimmerman . That 's irrelevant . But , if you must know , I do n't have a team . I do n't know that really happened on the night of February 26 on that dark street in Sanford , Florida . And neither do you . After all , we were n't there . Of course , we all have our biases . And some of mine come from being the son of a retired cop who spent 37 years on the job . From that vantage point , I would just as soon people like Zimmerman leave the police work to the professionals . And yet , even so , once the struggle began and the two men are wrestling on the ground , if Zimmerman felt his life was threatened , I ca n't condemn his decision to use deadly force to defend himself . I 'm only sure of this much : This case had to go to trial . It had to be this way . Whether you think Zimmerman is innocent or guilty , we all should be able to agree on that much . We could n't go on otherwise , with one segment of the country believing that someone got away with second-degree murder and the suspect looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life . This case cries out for clarity and resolution , and the only place to get either is in court . We need to be able to see and hear the evidence , and let a jury decide whether Zimmerman is guilty as charged or whether he acted in self-defense . Whatever the verdict turns out to be , let 's hope that both camps are mature enough to accept it . I 'm not hopeful . Too many people have already made up their minds . In fact , it 's hard to see how Zimmerman can get a fair trial -- especially in Seminole County . The strain is showing . The country has n't been this racially divided since the O.J . Simpson criminal trial in 1995 . And as with that trial , how you see these events seems to have a lot to do with the color of your skin . But this time , there 's a twist . During the Simpson trial , when the defendant was black and the victims were white , polls showed that most whites thought the former football star was guilty , while African-Americans urged us to wait for the evidence to come in . In the Martin case , the roles are reversed as many African-Americans seem quick to convict Zimmerman and many whites urge us to wait for the evidence to come in . That 's not a good sign . Do Americans need better laws , or just better memories ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr .
Ruben Navarrette Jr. : It 's a step forward to have the Simpson case go to court . He says O.J seems divided into camps over Ruben Navarrette Jr. guilt or innocence . The case cries out for clarity and resolution , which can only come in court , he says . Navarrette : Too many people have made up their minds , as they did in America . Trayvon Martin case .