MIAMI — Three jurors in George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial initially favored convicting him of that offense or manslaughter, but the six-woman jury ultimately voted to acquit him after more closely examining the law, a juror in the case said Monday.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year, but the jury also was allowed to consider manslaughter.
The woman, known as Juror B37, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that when the jury began deliberations Friday, they took an initial vote. Three jurors— including B37 — were in favor of acquittal, two supported manslaughter and one backed second-degree murder. She said the jury started going through all the evidence, listening to tapes multiple times.
“That’s why it took us so long,” said B37, who said she planned to write a book about the trial but later had a change of heart.
When they started looking at the law, the person who initially wanted second-degree murder changed her vote to manslaughter, the juror said. Then they asked for clarification from the judge and went over it again and again. B37 said some jurors wanted to find Zimmerman guilty of something, but there was just no place to go based on the law,
B37 said jurors cried when they gave their final vote to the bailiff.
“I want people to know that we put everything into everything to get this verdict,” said the juror, whose face was blacked out during the televised interview but who appeared to become choked up
I have never served on a jury. However, the people I know who have have all said that it is far more difficult than it seems. You must follow the law, not what you think should happen. For all the people we hear big-assing that they would have hung some unspecified bastard, we know that they probably would not have been able to.
Now we have a whole bunch of people up in arms. Ted Nugent is screaming racial remarks about blacks. Blacks are talking about racist white America and demanding justice from the Justice Department. Moveon.org has taken up the banner of racial oppression and is calling for a full civil rights investigation. What seems to be escaping nearly everyone (other than the President) is that George Zimmerman was tried and acquitted. We might or might not like the outcome but that’s how it works in America. We don’t keep trying the guy until we get the desired outcome.
Those who are furious over the outcome should probably go back to their home states and look at the laws and ask themselves or prosecutors and defense attornies what would have happened. Do laws need to change? Where does ‘stand your ground’ fit in? Where did the Florida law fall short? Was the verdict the fault of the prosecution? Did they fail to prove their case or were the charges too stiff? Did the state over-reach when it charged Zimmerman with 2nd degree murder? What evidence was there that would have allowed for a conviction–or was there evidence at all?
There is a lot of emotion involved with the Martin/Zimmerman case. Each side seems to be doing its best to not only appeal to emotions but also to do some stirring up with those same emotional responses. I would like to close with two observations: Trayvon Martin was not a child. He was darn close to being a young adult when he was killed. (yes, he was his parents child and he always will be.) George Zimmerman is not necessarily part of the ‘white’ world. If Barack Obama is the first black president, then following that reasoning, George Zimmerman is Hispanic. Not much was said about that.
The entire situation, to me is tragic. One young man lost his life. The other young man’s life will be forever altered. It was so avoidable. If George Zimmerman had just called in his concerns, think how different the outcome would be.
This nation is too polarized. There are many facets of this story that simply don’t belong in a ‘side’ or someone’s camp. There is a middle ground. Many of us feel very left out because the loud voices really don’t make for a good America.
Zimmerman has received untold death threats and has gone into hiding. His parents are fearful of returning to their home. Who’s in charge here?
Yeah, Obama reaklly has seized the reigns here.
He should not seize anything. He said the jury has spoken. then he shut up. that is what he should do.
I think he said what he thought. I’m not sure what more he can do as President? Apparently there is an element out there that is not accepting of our judicial system – disagree but threats?
President Obama called the death of Trayvon Martin a tragedy Sunday, but urged “calm reflection” in the wake of a jury’s verdict finding his killer not guilty.
“We are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken,” Obama said in a statement posted on the White House web site following a Florida jury’s acquittal of George Zimmerman Saturday.
I think he said what needed to be said. I was pleased.
One Peter Machera has written that de defense lawyer, O’Mara is the modern Atticus Finch!
That’s sure one I hadn’t thought of!
From Manassas Patch:
The man under fire in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida last month was the victim of an assault that took place in Manassas.
Manassa City Police Sgt. Eddie Rivera said one-time Manassas resident George Zimmerman was a victim of an assault in 2001, but he was never listed as an offender or suspect.Zimmerman lived in Manassas before he moved to Florida with his parents in 2002. He graduated from Osbourn High School in 2001.
Officials in Orange County Florida confirm Zimmerman was arrested and charged with resisting an officer with violence and battery on a law enforcement official back in 2005. He was booked and released on a security bond of 1,000.00. The charges were amended from a felony to a misdemeanor and were eventually dropped, according to court records.
Obama didn’t “say” anything, he just released a prepared statement that he probably didn’t write himself. This is an absense of leadership.
The level of anger showing in urban areas is such that it would be prudent for him to say something calming. But he doesn’t know how to lead. Crump does – he gave a nice speech right after the verdict. Sharpton does – he’s channeling anger towards a series of rallies. Obama invested himself in this issue, and is President, but doesn’t know what to do.
I watched Rachael Jantael talk for 20 minutes last night. It occurred to me that probably 20 minuites of the Presdient discussing this would be a good thing, if we had a President who was up to it.
Moon, you are to be commended for your fair treatment of this verdict. Only one person alive really knows exactly what happened that night, and I’ve never been entirely sure Z was telling the whole truth. I think the jury did the best it could under the circumstances and given their legal constraints. It was obvious that the judge gave the prosecution every opportunity, but they failed miserably.
The death threats against Zimmerman just prove that it wasn’t enough that he was finally arrested, as many had claimed earlier that that was all they wanted to have happened. A lot of people want blood now. It’s too bad that they can’t settle down and accept the verdict. I don’t recall OJ having to go into hiding after he was acquitted of killing two white people.
There were no winners in this case. But the only way we can ever really move forward in our race relations after this is if our own “leaders” stop their divide-and-conquer vote-getting strategies and start working for the common good. Fat chance of that happening soon.
We need to make sure our children understand the police are there to help. I wish Trayvon had called the police and reported a strange man chasing him. Maybe it is the bravado of the young, I don’t know. But I do know that young black men are treated differently in our society. There are two interesting op ed’s, juxtaposing ideas.
Eugene Robinson reflects upon stolen childhood of young black boys and being viewed as expendable, as criminal, while Richard Cohen sees it differently. The dilemma of profiling while recognizing the high numbers of incarcerated black men and yet, what that profiling does to black youth even though many are innocent. We all know it relates back to poverty, back to inequality, but how do we fix it, THAT is the problem.
The war on poverty was making inroads. And though people made of fun of community organizing because of Obama, the reality is that the way one defeats the cycle of poverty and violence is doing JUST that, changing and empowering communities, one by one.
Eugene Robinson brought up the lack of investigation immediately following the killing of Trayvon Martin. The lack of forensic follow up, like a blood test on Zimmerman. Like immediately talking to the neighbors. They waited weeks, several I believe.
Here is this dead teenager and Zimmerman just walks away while this kids sits on slab unidentified? For days? Imagine if that were your child. There is something wrong, and it started from the moment Zimmerman got out of his vehicle. He had no legal authority to approach this kid and ask anything. He was simply a guy with a gun, too weak to fight on his own, he chose to bolster his confidence with a gun.
He took a young mans life and that he will always live with, til the day he dies.
My main observations are :
1. Focusing on this particular case, where facts will never be known and public opinion always divided, shows a lack of leadership on the part of the NAACP, President, and liberal media. There is no productive endgame to this. It ties into my constant argument that Obama doesn’t know how to lead.
2. To choose this one case in a nation of 300 million and make it a flashpoint shows a pathological need on some people’s part to paint black people as victims.
3. If they didn’t have photos of Martin looking young and innocent, the story wouldn’t be as big. To some extent this is about looks. To paraphrase Chris Rock, if Martin had been fat and more surley looking in the photos the family released, this wouldn’t have been a story.
Your observations would be more effective if you had also included the really repugnant remarks made by some representing the far right.
I disagree with your assessment of the president. In fact, I was pleased with what he said.
@Rick Bentley
If Zimmerman had been black, it wouldn’t have made the news except locally.
11,000 black people have been killed since this started, by other black people. Why isn’t there any of this outrage about that?
What cargo says sounds iike a cliche to many ears, because it’s been said so many times, but it is an interesting point and question that’s hard to answer.
It all comes back to poverty in my opinion. Black on black crime, poverty. Young black males in prison, poverty.
The most recent pic they have been showing was when he was 16.
@Elena
That is why, right there, that this case has garnered national attention…the fact that Zimmerman was just waved on and Martin’s parents weren’t even contacted, even though the police had his phone. Martin appeared to be a throw away from the git-go.
I think Eugene Robinson is absolutely correct, from my observations. Of course I also admit I am an outsider looking in on this subject.
Some of the ‘stars’ on the right are making me sick. Coulter, Limbaugh, Nugent, Gerald….their public comments have been horrible.
This issue really shouldn’t be about right or left. There is no right or left.
Lots of folks wear hoodies. My grandkids wear hoodies. Yes, young black men are often viewed differently, with suspicion, even when we don’t want to–even by members of their own race.
We have a long way to go as Americans. But the jury has spoken and we don’t convict people on emotion, we convict on evidence. It simply wasn’t there.
@Elena
I really don’t like the Chicago statistics being flashed. It sends a bad message and is irrelevant. Trayvon didn’t live in Chicago. That is a ‘blending of black’ that I find offensive. It stops one step short of saying ” see these people are killing each other anyway.”
Shudder. Please. No more. Not here. I am not even sure that it stops short. I think its just repugnant to say that.