Question: Who was acquitted of second degree murder in July of 2013, in which his/her case was presided over by Debra Steinberg Nelson?

Context paragraphs:
People v. Aaron: People v. Aaron, 299 N.W.2d 304 (1980), was a case decided by the Michigan Supreme Court that abandoned the felony-murder rule in that state.  The court reasoned that the rule should only be used in grading a murder as either first or second degree, and that the automatic assignment of the mens rea of the felony as sufficient for the mens rea of first degree murder was indefensible.

Debra Nelson: Debra Steinberg Nelson is a Seminole County judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit Court, in Florida.  She has presided on some relatively high-profile cases such as a baby-kidnapping case in 2008.  In 2013, she was put in the national spotlight again, as she was the presiding judge in the controversial self-defense case known as the "State of Florida v. George Zimmerman".  Her reputation, among some, as a tough-on-defendants judge, has been analyzed in light of her handling of the case where George Zimmerman fatally shot the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

R v Nette: R v Nette, [2001] 3 S.C.R. 488, 2001 SCC 78, is a Supreme Court of Canada decision on the standard for causation in criminal offences.  The Court upheld the "Smithers test" for causation in a criminal charge for manslaughter or murder but held that the test for causation for second degree murder need not be expressed as "a contributing cause of death, outside the de minimis range".  Instead, it would be more preferable to use positive terms such as "significant contributing cause".  In the case of first degree murder under s. 231(5) of the Code (crime of domination), a jury must also consider the additional "R v Harbottle" "a substantial causation" standard but only after finding the accused guilty of murder.

Murder (United States law): In the United States, the law regarding murder varies by jurisdiction.  In most U.S. jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which "first degree murder" and "felony murder" are the most serious, followed by "second degree murder", followed by "voluntary manslaughter" and involuntary manslaughter which are less serious, and ending finally in "justifiable homicide", which is not a crime at all.  However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.

George Zimmerman: George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American known for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida.  On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in "Florida v. George Zimmerman".  s of 2015 , he remained the subject of media interest due to ongoing controversy over the Trayvon Martin case.  In addition, he has been involved in other violent incidents, with allegations of violence made against him since he was acquitted of murder.

Helmuth Buxbaum: Helmuth Buxbaum (March 19, 1939 — November 1, 2007) was a multimillionaire owner of a network of nursing homes in Ontario who was convicted in 1986 of the murder of his wife, two years previously.  Hanna Buxbaum was found dead July 5, 1984 on a highway near London, Ontario after having been shot in the head three times.  Helmuth Buxbaum had taken out a $1 million life insurance policy on his wife shortly before her murder.  The Crown attorney prosecuting the case argued that Buxbaum had hired a hitman to kill his wife for $10,000 and had pulled over to the side of the road so that the man could drag her out of the car and shoot her.  The gunman, Gary Foshay, was convicted of second degree murder.  Buxbaum was convicted after a high-profile trial and sentenced to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years.  He died in prison in Kingston, Ontario on November 1, 2007 at the age of 68.

California Proposition 7 (1978): California Proposition 7, or the Death Penalty Act, is a ballot proposition approved in California by statewide ballot on November 7, 1978.  Proposition 7 increased the penalties for first degree murder and second degree murder, expanded the list of special circumstances requiring a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and revised existing law relating to mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

Adrian P. Thomas: Adrian P. Thomas was a father of seven children living in Troy, New York, when, in September 2008, his four-month-old son died.  A preliminary medical examination indicated that the infant died from head trauma.  The police interrogated Thomas for nearly 10 hours during which he confessed to throwing his son on the bed three times.  The entire interrogation was videotaped.  He was charged with second-degree murder, found guilty, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.  In 2011, Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh were looking for an example of a coerced confession as the basis for a documentary film they were planning and they used Thomas' interrogation video to make the documentary "Scenes of a Crime".  Thomas appealed his conviction based on a coercive interrogation, however, the state appellate justices of New York denied his appeal in 2012.  Thomas then appealed his conviction to the New York Court of Appeals.  In February 2014, the seven judges unanimously ruled that Thomas must have another trial excluding the videotaped confession.  A second trial was held and on June 12, 2014, the jury found him not guilty of second degree murder of his infant son.  The case created controversy about how much coercion is legally permissible in police interrogations.

Felony murder rule (Alaska): In the state of Alaska, the common law felony murder rule is codified in Alaska Statutes § 11.41.100(a).  Alaska's law regarding felony murder is very specific, and unlike most felony murder rule laws, which make all felony crimes that cause murder that of the first degree, delegates some felony murders to second degree murder.

Scott Peterson: Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American former fertilizer salesman awaiting execution on death row in San Quentin State Prison, convicted of the first degree murder of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and the second degree murder of their unborn son, Connor, in Modesto, California in 2002.  He was sentenced to death by lethal injection the following year.  His case is currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of California.

Supporting paragraphs: Debra Nelson George Zimmerman
Answer: George Zimmerman