B37's fellow jurors in Trayvon Martin trial bash her for leading country to believe spoke for them
By Stephen Rex Brown AND Bill Hutchinson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 11:30 PM
Updated: Wednesday, July 17, 2013, 12:46 AM
cnn.com
Anderson Cooper speaks with Zimmerman Juror B-37 for the second time.
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Four jurors in the Trayvon Martin case issued a statement Tuesday night
bashing a fellow panelist for going on TV and leading the country to
believe she spoke for them.
Just moments after CNN aired part two of its interview with the juror known as B37, four of her fellow members on the six-woman jury issued a joint statement.
“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 added, “We ask you to remember that we are not public officials and we did not invite this type of attention into our lives.”
In the interview aired Tuesday night, juror B37 said Trayvon “played a huge role in his death” and that race had nothing to do with it.
The anonymous juror said she believes neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, who is half-Peruvian, was “justified in shooting” the 17-year-year high school student.
RELATED: STEVIE WONDER BOYCOTTS FLORIDA AFTER ZIMMERMAN TRIAL VERDICT
“I don’t think race had anything to do with this trial,” she told Cooper.
“I mean just because he was black and George was Spanish or Puerto Rican, I don't think it had anything to do with this trial,” she said. “But I think people are looking for things to make race play a part.”
The jury’s post-trial conflict played out as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he is gunning for “Stand Your Ground” laws.
The nation’s top lawman said during a speech at an NAACP convention in
Orlando that the law — which featured prominently during the murder
trial of George Zimmerman — should be reexamined and reformed.
“It’s time to question laws that so dangerously expand self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods,” Holder said, just miles from the Sanford, Fla., courtroom where Zimmerman, 29, stood trial in Trayvon Martin’s death.
Stand Your Ground laws give the benefit of the doubt to the gunman if he can prove he fired because he feared for his life. The law, which exists in some form in more than 20 states, does not require that a person retreat if possible — a concept Holder said is critical in legal concepts of self-defense.
RELATED: JUROR B37 SAYS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN FEARED FOR HIS LIFE
“By allowing — and perhaps encouraging — violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety,” Holder said.
He did not comment on the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation
into whether Zimmerman’s shooting of Trayvon, an unarmed black teen, was
motivated by racial bias.
But Juror B37 said Zimmerman is only guilty of “not using his senses” when he confronted Trayvon.
“I don’t think he profiled him as a racial thing,” the juror said. “I think he profiled him just as someone in the neighborhood who was suspicious.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton has been one of many civil rights leaders urging Holder to bring civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who was acquitted Saturday of murdering Trayvon, 17.
Sharpton announced Tuesday he is organizing 100 rallies in cities around the country to press the Justice Department to bring the charges.
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RELATED: GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TRIAL JUROR DITCHES BOOK IDEA
Sharpton did not say which cities are involved in the protests planned for this weekend.
Meanwhile a tell-all book by Juror B37 — one of six unnamed women who acquitted Zimmerman — is off the table following an outcry that she was trying to profit from the trial and its controversial conclusion.
The anonymous juror had announced Monday through a literary agent that she hoped to write the book that would give a behind-the-scenes look at the trial.
The plan was scuttled after the juror gave an interview to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in which she sympathized with Zimmerman, saying his “heart was in the right place.”
“Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury,” the juror said in a statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, authorities remained on guard for further rowdy protests after about 150 people split off from a demonstration Monday night and ran through the streets, committing vandalism and assaults and stopping traffic. Fourteen people were arrested.
With News Wire Services
Just moments after CNN aired part two of its interview with the juror known as B37, four of her fellow members on the six-woman jury issued a joint statement.
“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 added, “We ask you to remember that we are not public officials and we did not invite this type of attention into our lives.”
In the interview aired Tuesday night, juror B37 said Trayvon “played a huge role in his death” and that race had nothing to do with it.
Tim Boyles/Getty Images
Attorney General Eric Holder said the 'Stand Your Ground' laws must be reformed.
RELATED: STEVIE WONDER BOYCOTTS FLORIDA AFTER ZIMMERMAN TRIAL VERDICT
“I don’t think race had anything to do with this trial,” she told Cooper.
“I mean just because he was black and George was Spanish or Puerto Rican, I don't think it had anything to do with this trial,” she said. “But I think people are looking for things to make race play a part.”
The jury’s post-trial conflict played out as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he is gunning for “Stand Your Ground” laws.
Joe Marino/New York Daily News
Reverend Al Sharpton is organizing rallies across the country to press the Justice Department to bring civil rights charges against Zimmerman.
“It’s time to question laws that so dangerously expand self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods,” Holder said, just miles from the Sanford, Fla., courtroom where Zimmerman, 29, stood trial in Trayvon Martin’s death.
Stand Your Ground laws give the benefit of the doubt to the gunman if he can prove he fired because he feared for his life. The law, which exists in some form in more than 20 states, does not require that a person retreat if possible — a concept Holder said is critical in legal concepts of self-defense.
RELATED: JUROR B37 SAYS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN FEARED FOR HIS LIFE
“By allowing — and perhaps encouraging — violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety,” Holder said.
POOL/REUTERS
George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
But Juror B37 said Zimmerman is only guilty of “not using his senses” when he confronted Trayvon.
“I don’t think he profiled him as a racial thing,” the juror said. “I think he profiled him just as someone in the neighborhood who was suspicious.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton has been one of many civil rights leaders urging Holder to bring civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who was acquitted Saturday of murdering Trayvon, 17.
Sharpton announced Tuesday he is organizing 100 rallies in cities around the country to press the Justice Department to bring the charges.
Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by Zimmerman.
Sharpton did not say which cities are involved in the protests planned for this weekend.
Meanwhile a tell-all book by Juror B37 — one of six unnamed women who acquitted Zimmerman — is off the table following an outcry that she was trying to profit from the trial and its controversial conclusion.
The anonymous juror had announced Monday through a literary agent that she hoped to write the book that would give a behind-the-scenes look at the trial.
The plan was scuttled after the juror gave an interview to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in which she sympathized with Zimmerman, saying his “heart was in the right place.”
“Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury,” the juror said in a statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, authorities remained on guard for further rowdy protests after about 150 people split off from a demonstration Monday night and ran through the streets, committing vandalism and assaults and stopping traffic. Fourteen people were arrested.
With News Wire Services
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