(ThyBlackMan.com) This entire Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case is really getting out of hand. I just came across this Yahoo news article entitled, “George Zimmerman Juror Says He ‘Got Away With Murder.’” This immediately caught my attention like excuse me?
Yet, as I’m reading through the story, I’m wondering, “Is the aftermath of this verdict turning into a game for some people? Do these jurors think this is a joke?”
According to the story, juror B29, or Maddy, was the only minority (Puerto Rican) on the all-female jury. In an exclusive interview with Robin Roberts of “Good Morning America,” she said:
“George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can’t get away from God.
And at the end of the day, he’s going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with, [But] the law couldn’t prove it.”
“I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end,” she said.
“I felt like I let a lot of people down, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Did I go the right way? Did I go the wrong way?'” she said.
“Juror B29” Maddy explained how even though the jurors felt in their hearts that Zimmerman was guilty, as the law was read to her, if you have no proof he killed Trayvon Martin intentionally you cannot say he’s guilty. Can one man’s claim of “but he started it” really be considered “these were the facts” when the other is no longer living to say otherwise? I digress.
Yet, even with “Juror B29” Maddy saying how she feels she owes Trayvon’s parents an apology because she feels like she let them down, and just how much her heart knew Zimmerman was a murderer, the former juror then says something that confuses me.
Robin Roberts asked Maddy if she thinks the case should’ve ever gone to trial, to which she answered “I don’t think so.” She said, “I felt like this was a publicity stunt. This whole court service thing to me was publicity,” she said.
In your and the other jurors’ hearts you felt like Zimmerman was guilty; you go on national TV and declare that he got away with murder; how you cannot eat or sleep thinking about if you made the right decision; and how you owe his parents an apology, yet during the same interview you say you don’t even think the case should’ve gone to trial and that it was a publicity stunt?
These jurors are showing their true colors. First juror B37 tries to secure a book deal just days after the controversial verdict and now this?
I know many people are saying the judicial system is broken and I believe this only adds fuel to the fire. America needs to reexamine its judicial process when it can leave the power of someone’s future (and possibly life) in the hands of a select few, and then after delivering a verdict, those few can tell the public “Oh, by the way, we did actually feel like he was guilty” and contradict themselves.
In an interview with CNN, juror B37 said that none of the jurors even considered race to be a factor in this case. She said it was never even mentioned during deliberations (to which Maddy confirms in the Yahoo story).
America, can you provide true justice when you leave a case where a non-black man sees a black male teen in a hoodie and immediately concludes he is suspicious and is “on drugs or something”—an obviously racial profiling-based case—in the hands of five women who, unfortunately like so many other non-blacks who think prejudices and racism magically disappeared, didn’t even once consider race as a factor?
America, how can you fairly conclude that justice will be served in a case most would agree was ignited by racial profiling by leaving the outcome to a group who from the beginning didn’t believe race played a factor? What is “just” and unbiased about a group deciding the fate of one of its own? (In the sense of someone who also claimed race wasn’t a factor).
That’s like putting the Sanford police department on the witness stand and asking them “do you believe Zimmerman intended to kill Martin?” and truly believing they may be fair and just in their response, when from the beginning the police didn’t even believe Zimmerman should be charged. Umm, they already had pre-trial biases, duh.
America, all I’m asking is, when looking at this case and the behavior of these jurors as an example, how much true, fair and unbiased justice can really be served through the current system in place?
Staff Writer; Shala Marks
Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/shala.marks
Service is her passion, writing is her platform, women and the Black Community are her avenues. Shala Marks is a writer, editor and soon-to-be author. Through her work, Marks aspires to demonstrate “The Craft of Writing, and the Art of Efficacy.” She has a B.A. in journalism from ArizonaStateUniversity. Connect with her at http://www.sisterscanwespeak.tumblr.com.
