she declared christian fernandez should be tried as an adult on a first-degree murder charge which carries the mandatory penalty upon conviction of life in prison without parole. he sits with adult inmates in court, is addressed as an adult by the judge. >> mr. fernandez, you have discussed with your attorneys your right to a speedy trial? >> reporter: and for the first few weeks of his imprisonment, he sat in this adult jail in solitary confinement. the youngest person in florida to be charged as an adult for murder. a judge did ultimately rule he could be held in a juvenile facility while still being tried as an adult. this is what angela corey said last year when he was arrested. >> and it will be a very dramatic, to say the least, sight to see a 12-year-old who looks like a 12-year-old up here in adult court. but we want the public to understand at this point we have no choice. >> reporter: no choice? many people vehemently disagree, such as the man who had the state attorney job before her and decided not to run for re-election. harry shorestein was angela corey's boss. >> no. i clear

she declared christian fernandez should be tried as an adult on a first-degree murder charge which carries the mandatory penalty of upon conviction of life in prison without parole. he sits with adult inmates in court, is addressed as an adult by the judge. >> mr. fernandez, you have discussed with your attorneys your right to a speedy trial? >> reporter: and for the first few weeks of his imprisonment, he sat in this adult jail in solitary confinement. the youngest person in florida to be charged as an adult for murder. a judge did ultimately rule he could be held in a juvenile facility while still being tried as an adult. this is what angela corey said last year when he was arrested. >> it will be a very dramatic, to say the least, sight to see a 12-year-old who looks like a 12-year-old up here in adult court. but we want the public to understand at this point we have no choice. >> reporter: no choice? many people vehemently disagree. such as the man who had the state attorney job before her and decided not to run for re-election. harry shorestein was angela corey's boss. >> no. i clearl

she declared christian fernandez should be tried as an adult on a first-degree murder charge which carries the mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole. he sits with adult inmates in court, is addressed as an adult by the judge. >> mr. fernandez, you have discussed with your attorneys your right to a speedy trial? >> reporter: and for the first few weeks of his imprisonment, he sat in this adult jail in solitary confinement. the youngest person in florida to be charged as an adult for murder. a judge did ultimately rule he could be held in a juvenile facility while still being tried as an adult. this is what angela corey said last year when he was arrested. >> it will be a very dramatic, to say the least, sight to see a 12-year-old who looks like a 12-year-old up here in adult court. but we want the public to understand at this point we have no choice. >> reporter: no choice? many people vehemently disagree. such as the man who had the state attorney job before her and decided not to run for re-election. harry shorestein was angela corey's boss. >> i clearly think the decision wa

fernandez doesn't spend his entire life in prison. but if there is no plea bargain, that could happen. >> i think she wants to be our equivalent to the sheriff in phoenix who keeps the people in tents in 110 degrees. >> i don't know of a single 12-year-old that's capable of forming the kind of intent that would be necessary to sustain a first-degree murder conviction. >> reporter: christian fernandez defense attorneys are working for free and not wanting to anger the prosecution team have decided not to comment for the story. when you sleep at night, are you comfortable with this decision? >> absolutely. i can go home, i can look my family, my 12-year-old in the face and feel comfortable that what we are doing in the prosecution of christian fernandez is the right thing. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn, jacksonville, florida. >> plenty you could talk about there. >>> americans need to get green. that is the message from a former vp of general motors. we're going to talk to him about his push for electric cars and his new book on green

last year, she decided to prosecute christian fernandez, 12 years old, as an adult in the beating death of his two-year-old brother. almost 200,000 people signed an online petition of protest. corey sees herself as an advocate for victims' families. >> i take them on, they become like family to me and i don't believe trayvon's family will be any different. i think the public will understand this is a very complicated area of the law and we'll do everything we can to make sure the public has the answers that they need. >> reporter: by skipping the grand jury under florida law, corey cannot chargeshiper man with first degree murder so she has two options left, she can either charge him herself with something else or she can clear him. either way, scott, the mayor of sanford, florida, says his city is preparing for possible riots. >> pelley: the investigation continues, mark, thanks very much. syria's dictator promised to pull his army out of his big cities by tomorrow. but judging by what happened today it looks like bashar al assad will break that promise. there was mayhem as syrian tank

last year, she decided to prosecute christian fernandez, then 12 years old, as an adult in the beating death of his two- year-old brother. almost 200,000 people signed an online petition of protest. corey sees herself as an advocate for victims' families. >> i take them on, they become like family to me and i don't believe trayvon's family will be any different. i think the public will understand this is a very complicated area of the law and we'll do everything we can to make sure the public also has the answers that they need. >> reporter: by skipping the grand jury under florida law, corey cannot charge zimmerman with first degree murder so she has two options left, she can either charge him herself with something else or she can clear him. either way, scott, the mayor of sanford, florida, says his city is preparing for possible riots. >> pelley: the investigation continues, mark, thanks very much. syria's dictator promised to pull his army out of his big cities by tomorrow. but judging by what happened today it looks like bashar al assad will break that promise. there was mayhem as

. >> now, ken, the most controversial case prior to the trayvon case was the case of christian fernandez, a 12-year-old, cori is charging with first degree murder as an adult. when she explained how she deals with victims first, prosecution style, listen to her. >> i'll read it to you. sometimes, this is her saying this, sometimes the people murdered aren't innocent. sometimes they're ear drug dealers. sometimes they put themselves in harm's way. and you know what? we fight just as hard for them when we're done with this, you'll know what we could do with what we had. you'll have every answer you need. this is how she explained her prosecution style. with would that speak to you saying, that even if someone tries to despairage the victim, that has nothing to do with her going after the evidence and that the person that killed them or shot them or assaulted them was in fact guilty after crime? ken? >> sounds to me like she takes to heart what prosecutors are supposed to be, which is ministers of justice. they are supposed to seek the truth, sometimes the truth warrants that someone is cha

fernandez as an adult in a homicide case. he is the youngest person in florida ever to have been charged as an adult. she took a lot of heat for making that decision. >> what happened with that case? >> it's still pending. it's still pending. in speaking to her detractor she stood firm by that decision to charge him as an adult and that tells many people that she won't be persuaded by public opinion, by political pressure. she really is considered to be someone as a prosecutor that stands by her own gut? she's obviously a tough prosecutor. i think martin savidge is now joining us from sanford, florida. set the scene for us there because sanford is where all of this took place. >> reporter: absolutely right. this is a community that is, i guess, at the epicenter now, very anxious to hear what is the decision and what's coming down from angela corey. at this particular moment i had a conversation with the mayor, and i asked him were they ready? were they standing by? his single answer back to me is we are prepared. the preparat