The prosecution apparently failed to "humanize" Trayvon Martin. This would have been hard to do, though, considering that the prosecution didn't want any evidence from Martin's life to be entered into evidence.
SANFORD, Fla. — A televised interview of Juror B-37 reveals her ease in relating to George Zimmerman and state prosecutors' failure to humanize Trayvon Martin, some legal experts said.
The juror told CNN's Anderson Cooper that Zimmerman was "a man whose heart was in the right place," but he went too far and did not use good judgment. She also said she thought Trayvon threw the first punch and attacked Zimmerman — and that Zimmerman had the right to shoot the teen. The juror's statements illustrate her empathy for Zimmerman and her emotional and demographic disconnect with Trayvon, the experts said.
WTF?
The juror's conclusion that Martin attacked Zimmerman means that she had an "emotional and demographic disconnect with Trayvon"?
What kind of "expert" said that? Clearly not an expert on the effect of sidewalks on human skulls.
"She (Juror B-37) was more empathic to the living than the dead," said Susan Constantine, a jury consultant and body language expert who attended Zimmerman's trial regularly. "The state really needed to work with her. I would have done almost a memorial about Trayvon Martin. I would have shown these are the things he's not going to be able to do: He'll never have a family or he'll never see his graduation."
An honest memorial about Martin would not have made him more sympathetic to most jurors. That's ridiculous.
What would you say in such a memorial? That because of Zimmerman's actions Martin will now never get to experience lifting weights in the prison yard?
Martin MIGHT have turned his life around and stopped getting high every day, burglarizing people's houses and attacking people, but at the time of his death the trajectory his life made unfortunate future scenarios for Martin likely, not because he was an especially bad kid, but simply because poor black kids in Miami from single parent homes who fall into rough crowds just don't have bright future prospects in most cases.
Juror B-37 is a middle-aged white woman who is the daughter of an Air Force captain and has been married to a space industry attorney for 20 years. She has two children in their 20s, and works in a management position.
On Monday, an agent announced that B-37 would write book about the trial. On Tuesday, B-37 announced that she had changed her mind.
On CNN, she said she thinks the shooting was not racially motivated and that Zimmerman would have reacted the same way to someone of any race.
She added that Trayvon calling Zimmerman a "creepy a-- cracker," wasn't racial. "I think it's just everyday life, the type of life that they live, and how they're living, in the environment that they're living in," Juror B-37 told Cooper.
"Creepy-ass cracker" isn't racial, but "fucking punk" is (according to the prosecution).
When viewed through Rachel Jeantel's homophobic filter, the term "creepy-ass cracker" takes on a whole new meeting, as in "creepy
ass-cracker." Yuck.
Zimmerman did have the right to carry his pistol, but he should have stayed in his car that night and not have gotten out to follow Trayvon, the juror said.
“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”?
? Blaise Pascal
Along with the state's failure to bring Trayvon to life, some experts said Juror B-37 also used assumptions in coming to her conclusion.
Rachel Jeantel, 19, was on the phone with Trayvon moments before he was killed. The teen said Trayvon was followed by Zimmerman and that the young man tried to get away but couldn't lose Zimmerman.
During Jeantel's at times contentious testimony, defense attorney Don West, the court reporter and the jury struggled to hear and understand her.
On Monday, Juror B-37 said she too had problems understanding Jeantel.
"She (Jeantel) just didn't want to be there, and she was embarrassed by being there, because of her education and her communication skills, that she just wasn't a good witness," the juror said.
Really?
If that's true then why did she go on Piers Morgan's show? That makes no sense to me.
Jules Epstein, a law professor at Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Del., said those comments show demographic differences may have been important.
"The juror's comments about Rachel Jeantel typecast her as an inarticulate person," Epstein said. "This juror's comments show where the issue of race and racial perceptions may have come into play."
[headslap...headslap...headslap]
The juror's comments didn't
typecast Jeantel as an inarticulate person, the juror's comments were simply an
observation that she was an inarticulate person. No one who heard her testify said anything except that she was inarticulate, including the prosecution. Were they all racists too?
Jeantel, who is black, speaks three languages, Haitian Creole, Spanish and English. Constantine said those facts showed she was a bright young woman who was "profiled" by Juror B-37.
They are saying that the jurors acquitted Zimmerman because the jurors are racists too? That's so cynical and cheap.
The juror said the fact that lead investigator Christopher Serino, a Sanford police officer, thought Zimmerman was telling the truth weighed in her decision. Judge Nelson instructed jurors to disregard that statement and not consider it in their verdict following a motion by the state.
Still, the jury thought it was important.
"People trust police officers over and above family and friends," Constantine said, adding the juror probably forgot she wasn't supposed to weigh Serino's opinion.
I predict that the prosecution will appeal the nonguilty verdict based upon this comment.
When the verdict was read, Juror B-37 looked confident about her decision. At least one juror looked upset and several others looked serious and contemplative.
Juror B-37 being the first juror to speak isn't a big surprise to Constantine. The body language expert said the juror during individual questioning was expressive, spoke with her hands, and was somewhat eccentric. During the trial, Juror B-37 was much more reserved, took fewer notes than the other jurors, and paid a lot of attention to witnesses, Constantine said.
During pre-trial testimony questioning, Juror B-37 said she had several pets including a parrot whose cage she lined with newspapers.
And everyone knows that racist jurors who have multiple pets and are expressive are eccentric. Just another subtle dig at the legitimacy of the jury's decision.
