Perhaps it would have been best to take some much needed time to reflect before putting oneself at the center of a media bonanza after one of the largest televised court cases in recent American history. Did Juror B-37 of the George Zimmerman trial seek to process what was happening in the world around her before speaking publicly about the highly charged case — or did she rush to gain her fifteen minutes of fame?
By now we all know the answer to that question. And the backlash was swift.
First was the ill-conceived hiring of a literary agent mere hours after handing down a not-guilty verdict with hopes of writing and publishing a book about her time spent as a juror in the case, with help from her attorney husband. The reaction across the nation to this news ranged from shock and disgust to not so subtle inferences alluding to the juror’s proposed most base motivation — money. An equally grassroots and strategic campaign by one Twitter user seems to have played a large part in that agent dropping Juror B-37 as a client. This is in spite of the juror’s claim that she fired the agent for personal reasons.
Then came the two-part Anderson Cooper interview where Juror B-37 can be heard referring to the former defendant, George Zimmerman, fondly by his first name. She went on to say how she felt Zimmerman’s “heart was in the right place” in addition to feeling sorry for him. She also stated that she did not think race was a factor in the case, and that she felt badly for “uneducated” and “embarrassed” Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin. All of this was said as protests have cropped up in various cities around the country in response to the not-guilty verdict. Among the new developments is the emergence of possible federal civil rights charges being brought against Zimmerman for his actions.
Yet, obliviously, except for dancing dollar signs in her head, Juror B-37 bumbled and stumbled on a two-day tour of public idiocy masked as publicity with hopes of bolstering a soon-to-be-dead book deal, which she had to reverse commitment to — not in what appears to be good taste — but probably because the idea was pretty much universally panned amid calls that she was nothing more than a “vulture picking over the carcass of a highly emotional case.”
And then late Tuesday evening, four other Jurors made a statement which was a clear distancing from Juror B-37.
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. We also wish to point out that the opinions of Juror B-37, expressed on the Anderson Cooper show, were her own, and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below.
Serving on this jury has been a highly emotional and physically draining experience for each of us. The death of a teenager weighted heavily on our hearts but in the end we did what the law required us to do.
We appeal to the highest standards of your profession and ask the media to respect our privacy and give us time to process what we have been though.
Thank you,
Juror B-51
Juror B-76
Juror E-6
Juror E-40
You just have to wonder what these four jurors must have been thinking after hearing, seeing, and reading about the antics of this one lone juror who took it upon herself to speak openly about the case with little regard to the other jurors or Trayvon Martin’s family. This as she discussed how much she truly believed George Zimmerman, how badly she felt for him, and how he did nothing wrong, yet their son remains dead. Could this be a clue as to how she operated during deliberations? Did she run roughshod over the rest? Did she assert her opinions with little regard to the others? It’s pretty apparent that she believed Zimmerman to be not-guilty from the outset — which makes her the prosecution’s nightmare juror.
For her part, which we believe is attributed purely to vanity’s sake, Juror B-37 has released a new statement in which she basically says that she overestimated America’s appeal for the verdict and subsequent need for someone to tell the story of how such a decision was reached. Especially since what we’ve received mostly has been platitudes, self-serving conjecture, and willful obtuseness by cherry-picking points from the case that suited her verdict. Her latest statement is below, and we’ll parse what she probably really means in parenthesis.
Thank you for the opportunity to vent some of the anguish which has been in me since the trial began. For reasons of my own (MONEY!), I needed to speak alone. There will be no other interviews (THE FIRST ONE DIDN’T GO WELL! EVERYBODY HATES ME!). My prayers are with all those who have the influence and power to modify the laws that left me with no verdict option other than “not guilty” in order to remain within the instructions (DON’T BLAME ME! IT WAS THE LAWS! THE LAWS!). No other family should be forced to endure what the Martin family has endured (FORGET WHAT I SAID ABOUT FEELING SORRY FOR POOR GEORGIE! SEE? I CARE ABOUT TRAYVON MARTIN, REALLY I DO!).
As for the alleged “book deal,” there is not one at this time (BECAUSE MY AGENT DROPPED ME!). There was an agreement with a literary agent to explore the concept of a book which discussed the impact of sequestration on my perceptions of this serious case, while being compared to the perceptions of an attorney who was closely following the trial from outside the “bubble” (HA! MY HUSBAND). The relationship with the agent ceased (ENDED BY THE AGENT AFTER A STRATEGIC TWITTER MOVEMENT) the moment I realized what had been occurring in the world during the weeks of my sequestration. My prayers are with Travon’s (I CAN’T SPELL HIS NAME CORRECTLY, SO YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW MUCH I REALLY “FELT” ABOUT HIM AS A PERSON) parents for their loss, as they have always been (MEANINGLESS PLATITUDE, BLAH, BLAH). I now wish for me and my family (HORRIFIC GRAMMAR AND YET I’LL JUDGE RACHEL JEANTEL) to recover from being selected for this jury and return to a normal life (I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE BY TALKING ABOUT THIS). God bless (PEACE OUT UNTIL ENOUGH TIME HAS PASSED AND I CAN TRY THIS PUBLICITY THING AGAIN LATER).
Yeah, whatever. Bless your heart, Juror B-37.
(YOU KNOW WHAT THIS REALLY MEANS.)
Image Source: Flickr
