jeff patterson has details. >> after a month of speculation, george zimmerman is behind bars. 44 daysfter he shot and killed 17-year-old trayvon martin. the special prosecutor has ended her investigation and is preparing for a trial. >> charging george zimmerman with murder in the second degree. >> a decision at thousands of supporters have been demanding since his death. >> we wanted some kind of accountability for the murder of our son. >> george zimmerman was moved to the jail in sanford. >> he needs a good and focused defense, so we will build him one. >> there will be an initial hearing later today. >> keep the process moving forward. >> the case now moving into the legal system. jeff patterson, nbc news. >> george the zimmerman has been climbing self-defense under the controversial "stand your ground" law. maryland does not have that law. michael bloomberg says similar laws need to be replaced or reformed. >> all americans have a right to defend themselves with commensurate force. these laws have nothing to do with that. >> that brings us to our water cooler question of the day.

right now we've got jeff patterson live in sanford this morning with the latest on what we can expect today. jeff? >> reporter: good morning, aaron. defense attorney says he's preparing for a bond hearing for his client george zimmerman that will appear in the justice center behind me. he says he will ask for a bond that allows his client to be leased. of course, people in the sanford community say they've been waiting for 44 days for charges to be filed against george zimmerman and for him to be arrested. the news of that arrest came as a great relief to people in this community. we attended a church service yesterday evening that was held especially as a celebration in this community. we talked to a number of people at that church service. they said it was just simply a relief he had been arrest bud they said that was only the first step. now they're waiting to see if he is convicted. that is something that the justice will have to play out. defense attorney marco mere ya says he wants people to stop prejudging case as they have been for now more than a month and he wants the facts