Queen Bee
Queen Bee
After two weeks of questioning, a jury was finally picked today to decide the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot Martin, in self-defense. Prosecutors said Zimmerman, 29, who identifies himself as Hispanic, racially profiled the 17-year-old Martin as he walked back from a convenience store on Feb. 26, 2012, in the rain, wearing a dark hoodie. Zimmerman spotted Martin, whom he did not recognize, walking in the gated townhome community where Zimmerman lived and the fiancee of Martin's father also resided. There had been a rash of recent break-ins at the Retreat, and Zimmerman was wary of strangers walking through the complex. The two eventually got into a struggle and Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest with his 9mm handgun. He was charged 44 days after the shooting, only after a special prosecutor was appointed to review the case.
Martin's shooting death and the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman led to public outrage and demonstrations around the nation, with some accusing Sanford police of failing to thoroughly investigate the shooting.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys chose the panel of six jurors, five of them white, and one a minority. In Florida, 12 jurors are required only for criminal trials involving capital cases and when the death penalty is being considered. The jury's racial makeup roughly reflects the central Florida community of Sanford in Seminole County, which is 78.5 percent white and 16.5 percent black. The race and ethnicity of the minority chosen for the jury was not immediately available. The six jurors were chosen from a pool of 40 jury candidates who made it into a second round of jury questioning.
Before selecting the jurors, defense attorney Mark O'Mara explored potential jurors' views on whether they thought sympathy should play a role in deciding a case. One potential juror, a young Hispanic man, said he wasn't affected by sympathetic people because he's never had many close relationships. "So when a person might seem sympathetic, to me it's indifferent," he said.
O'Mara also asked the jurors about when they thought self-defense could be used. Another potential juror, a white man in his 30s, said he thought deadly force could be warranted if a person feels danger. "I feel that if you're somewhere you're supposed to be and allowed to be, you should have the right to defend yourself," he said.
Legal analyst Kendall Coffey told NBC News that the fact that the finally chosen six jurors are all women should not be a “major factor†in the outcome of the trial. “But the to the extent it tilts either way, the prosecution should not be unhappy about an all-women jury,†and he added that in general, women’s attitudes about guns and “people engaging in confrontations instead of relying on authorities†might favor the prosecution’s argument that Zimmerman was in the wrong.
Here are general descriptions of the jurors, identified by numbers assigned to them by the court to protect their identities:
6 JURORS:
B-29: Described as a Hispanic woman, who works as a nurse treating patients with Alzheimer's. She has seven children and lived in Chicago at the time of the February 2012 shooting.
B-76: Described as a white middle-aged woman, who said Zimmerman had an "altercation with the young man. There was a struggle, and the gun went off."
B-37: Described as a middle-aged white woman, who works for a chiropractor and has many pets. She described protests in Sanford sparked after the delay in Zimmerman's arrest as "rioting."
B-51: Described as a retired white woman from Oviedo, Fla., who has a dog and 20-year-old cat. She knew a good deal about the case but said, "I'm not rigid in my thinking."
E-6: Described as a young white woman and mother, who used to work in financial services. She used this case as an example to her adolescent children, warning them to not go out at night.
E-40: Described as a white woman in her 60s, who lived in Iowa at the time of the shooting. She heard national news reports and recalls the shooting was in a gated community and a teenager was killed.
4 ALTERNATES:
E-40: Described as a white man in his 50s. He cautioned his 16-year-old stepson about wearing hoodie, which Trayvon Martin was wearing at the time of the shooting.
B-72: Described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, who works as maintenance technician at a school. He is a self-described power lifter and arm wrestler.
E-13: Described as a white woman in her 20s. She has brother who is black. She says she "never" watches the news, but when she first heard of shooting thought it was a "racial thing."
E-28: Described as a white middle-aged woman, who works as a nurse and says she listens to a lot of radio on her 15-minute commute. She said she knew little about the case and has no opinion about Zimmerman's guilt.
Martin's shooting death and the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman led to public outrage and demonstrations around the nation, with some accusing Sanford police of failing to thoroughly investigate the shooting.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys chose the panel of six jurors, five of them white, and one a minority. In Florida, 12 jurors are required only for criminal trials involving capital cases and when the death penalty is being considered. The jury's racial makeup roughly reflects the central Florida community of Sanford in Seminole County, which is 78.5 percent white and 16.5 percent black. The race and ethnicity of the minority chosen for the jury was not immediately available. The six jurors were chosen from a pool of 40 jury candidates who made it into a second round of jury questioning.
Before selecting the jurors, defense attorney Mark O'Mara explored potential jurors' views on whether they thought sympathy should play a role in deciding a case. One potential juror, a young Hispanic man, said he wasn't affected by sympathetic people because he's never had many close relationships. "So when a person might seem sympathetic, to me it's indifferent," he said.
O'Mara also asked the jurors about when they thought self-defense could be used. Another potential juror, a white man in his 30s, said he thought deadly force could be warranted if a person feels danger. "I feel that if you're somewhere you're supposed to be and allowed to be, you should have the right to defend yourself," he said.
Legal analyst Kendall Coffey told NBC News that the fact that the finally chosen six jurors are all women should not be a “major factor†in the outcome of the trial. “But the to the extent it tilts either way, the prosecution should not be unhappy about an all-women jury,†and he added that in general, women’s attitudes about guns and “people engaging in confrontations instead of relying on authorities†might favor the prosecution’s argument that Zimmerman was in the wrong.
Here are general descriptions of the jurors, identified by numbers assigned to them by the court to protect their identities:
6 JURORS:
B-29: Described as a Hispanic woman, who works as a nurse treating patients with Alzheimer's. She has seven children and lived in Chicago at the time of the February 2012 shooting.
B-76: Described as a white middle-aged woman, who said Zimmerman had an "altercation with the young man. There was a struggle, and the gun went off."
B-37: Described as a middle-aged white woman, who works for a chiropractor and has many pets. She described protests in Sanford sparked after the delay in Zimmerman's arrest as "rioting."
B-51: Described as a retired white woman from Oviedo, Fla., who has a dog and 20-year-old cat. She knew a good deal about the case but said, "I'm not rigid in my thinking."
E-6: Described as a young white woman and mother, who used to work in financial services. She used this case as an example to her adolescent children, warning them to not go out at night.
E-40: Described as a white woman in her 60s, who lived in Iowa at the time of the shooting. She heard national news reports and recalls the shooting was in a gated community and a teenager was killed.
4 ALTERNATES:
E-40: Described as a white man in his 50s. He cautioned his 16-year-old stepson about wearing hoodie, which Trayvon Martin was wearing at the time of the shooting.
B-72: Described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, who works as maintenance technician at a school. He is a self-described power lifter and arm wrestler.
E-13: Described as a white woman in her 20s. She has brother who is black. She says she "never" watches the news, but when she first heard of shooting thought it was a "racial thing."
E-28: Described as a white middle-aged woman, who works as a nurse and says she listens to a lot of radio on her 15-minute commute. She said she knew little about the case and has no opinion about Zimmerman's guilt.