Wednesday, July 17, 2013

#Zimmerman Jurors Speak Out: Juror B37 Does Not Speak for Us

At the Los Angeles Times, "Zimmerman trial: 4 jurors say Juror B37 does not speak for them":



A day after one juror in the George Zimmerman murder trial spoke out on national television, four other members of the six-woman jury released a statement separating themselves from her comments.

In their statement to CNN on Tuesday night, the jurors defended their roles in the trial.

“We, the undersigned jurors, understand there is a great deal of interest in this case. But we ask you to remember that we are not public officials and we did not invite this type of attention into our lives," the jurors wrote.

"We also wish to point out that the opinions of Juror B37, expressed on the Anderson Cooper show, were her own, and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below."

The jurors' identities have not been revealed; they were identified in court by letters and numbers.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday, Juror B37 said the panel was initially divided on Zimmerman’s guilt in the death of Trayvon Martin, but worked through the evidence to reach a unanimous verdict. A couple of the jurors "wanted to find him guilty of something," the juror said.

She said she thought Zimmerman had been driven to recklessness in pursuing Martin by a string of burglaries in his Sanford, Fla., neighborhood, but also thought that Martin could have walked away from the confrontation.

“I think both could have walked away; it just didn’t happen," the juror told Cooper, her face shadowed in the darkened studio. "It’s very emotional."
More at that top link, plus some HLN video, "Zimmerman jury: B-37 doesn't speak for us."

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