George Zimmerman trial: Jurors share concerns, and opinions, on Trayvon Martin shooting
Zimmerman's trial began Monday in the Miami Gardens teen's February 2012 shooting in Sanford.
By Jeff Weiner and Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
5:03 p.m. EDT, June 15, 2013
SANFORD — Seminole County residents poured into the criminal courthouse last week as potential jurors for the trial of George Zimmerman. By the dozens, most were sent back home.
The first week of jury selection focused on pretrial publicity: what jurors know and how they feel about the Feb. 26, 2012, fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Only 28 jurors survived that test. They will return to court Tuesday. Attorneys will continue questioning on those topics Monday with potential jurors they haven't gotten to yet.
Though many were dismissed without being called to the courtroom, jurors questioned by attorneys in the case gave frank assessments of the shooting and its aftermath. Their thoughts were varied — and, at times, harsh.
Trayvon's parents
Last week was difficult for Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, who were in court each day sitting through jury selection.
At times, prospective jurors had harsh things to say about their son — and their parenting.
On Tuesday, a middle-aged white woman who works in a middle school and was identified as prospective juror B-86 criticized them as parents. Trayvon had been expelled from school, she said — in reality he'd been suspended 10 days.
If not for that, she said, he would not have been in Sanford instead of at home in Miami Gardens, and there would have been no confrontation with Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
"This could have been prevented," the woman said.
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked the woman whether she could put that out of her mind if Trayvon's status at school was not among the pieces of evidence admitted at trial.
"I can't guarantee anything," said the woman, who later was among a group of prospective jurors asked to return Tuesday for broader questioning.
Earlier that day, prospective juror B-7, a middle-aged white man who described himself as open-minded, said he'd heard reports that Trayvon was "sort of a thug looking for a fight." He, too, was asked to come back Tuesday.
Trayvon's parents did not respond to either of those comments directly. But after the trial ended that day, they appeared before reporters alongside family attorney Benjamin Crump, who read a prepared statement.
"We are inspired by the honesty of the potential jurors. Their answers have been forthright and we have faith that the justice system and the members of the public who are selected for the jury will perform their civic duty in a fair and impartial manner."
Said Tracy Martin, "We are encouraged that we as a family can get justice for Trayvon."
The harshest words, though, came Thursday from prospective juror E-81, a middle-aged white woman who described Zimmerman as innocent and Trayvon as a young man starting down "the wrong path."
"I know his family loved him," the woman said of the 17-year-old. "He probably just started going with the wrong crowd. They probably didn't know about it."
Trayvon had begun to smoke marijuana, was interested in handguns and "was learning to become a street fighter," she said.
His mother was a single mom, the prospective juror said, and was trying to raise him right, but Trayvon suffered from not having enough attention from his father. She was not asked to return.
Trayvon's parents left the courthouse that day without commenting.
They have seen photos in case
The key images in the George Zimmerman case have been ubiquitous in Central Florida, and there have been few potential jurors questioned so far who haven't seen at least some.
The very first prospective juror called last week, identified as B-12, said she had seen the iconic picture of Trayvon in a hoodie.
She described the teenager as a "kid," one of several jurors to do so. Some jurors said photos they saw earlier in the case showed Trayvon much younger than he was, 9 or 12, not 17. This juror was asked to return.
Another potential juror, who said she had never heard Zimmerman's name before reporting for jury duty, said she still had seen Trayvon's face: It was on a T-shirt she saw at church, the woman said.
Also much discussed were pictures of Zimmerman from the night of the shooting. One, a picture of him sitting in a police cruiser, his face bloodied, led several jurors to conclusions about what happened that night.
"It's possible they were in a fight before the gun went off," B-76, a white, middle-aged woman, said of the picture. She also was asked to come back Tuesday.
B-86, the middle-school worker, said "it looked like a broken nose," adding she thought "something severe happened" to Zimmerman.
The images in the case weighed heavily on the week's most opinionated juror: E-81, who said that Zimmerman's "bloody nose" and other images she had seen in pictures led her to conclude he was "just defending himself."
She listed images found on Trayvon's cellphone — a photo of a semiautomatic handgun and another of him blowing smoke — and an image she had seen of him "refereeing a fight."
E-81 also said that the photo she has seen most often is of Trayvon at "12 years old."
Sequestration worries some
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson announced Thursday that the Zimmerman jury, once seated, will be sequestered for the trial, expected to last two to four weeks after the panel is chosen.
She made the decision minutes after a potential juror called sequestration her "biggest fear." Several jurors have expressed concerns about the time away from work, home and family.
One, identified as B-87, told attorneys that he's up to the challenge of fairly trying a case that has divided the nation.
"I think that I would definitely make the right decision according to the evidence," he said.
What he can't do, he said, is leave his wife alone for a month to care for their two kids, 6 and 10. Is that hardship insurmountable, defense attorney Don West asked?
"I think so, yes," B-87 said. He was dismissed.
B-29 was another promising candidate: She moved to Central Florida recently, only watches reality TV and, as a certified nursing assistant who works with Alzheimer's patients at a nursing home, doesn't hear much about the case.
But spend that amount of time away from her seven kids? B-29 said she would make the sacrifice if need be, but "any mother wouldn't want to do that." She was among those asked to return.
B-86, the middle-school employee, said her son, an out-of-state college student, will be in town during the period she would be holed up in a hotel. She was asked: Could you focus on the testimony and evidence in this trial knowing your son is at home?
To that, she first said yes, then later said no. "I think I can," she said at one point, but pressed further, she quickly backtracked: "I would think I couldn't."
Other jurors, though not happy with the idea, said they could cope with being sequestered.
K-80, the middle-aged white woman who called sequestration her "biggest fear," was asked whether she could arrange for someone to help her working husband watch their children.
"I always find a way," she said. She was asked to return Tuesday.
Some stand out in questioning
A handful of prospective jurors in the George Zimmerman case who have made indelible impressions:
B-51: Still in the pool
She is a retired Oviedo woman, a former manager who lives with a dog and 20-year-old cat.
"Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, it's going to be tough to find someone who hasn't read something about this," she told attorneys Tuesday.
But despite all the news stories, there are gaps in what's known about what happened between Trayvon and Zimmerman, she said.
The case created trouble for Sanford police — "embarrassing," was how she described it.
Although several other women said they were worried about a backlash against jurors in the case, she said she was not.
"What would I have to be worried about?" she asked. Juries in the past have taken on high-profile cases without incident.
"I just want to do what I need to do and go home."
E-81: Dismissed
She is a middle-aged housewife, gun-rights advocate and the wife of a former police officer.
She told attorneys Thursday that she thinks George Zimmerman is innocent, that Trayvon was "learning to become a street fighter" and that the night of the shooting he "was looking for someone to fight. … I think George was just trying to protect his neighborhood."
She was the most week's most outspoken prospective juror, offering her views not only on the shooting but also on gun laws.
"I think the more people armed, the better," she said. "I believe there's a lot of crime out there."
Zimmerman had a concealed-weapons permit, she said, and so had a "legal and lawful" reason to be armed. He also had a right to defend himself.
She did not want to serve on the jury, she said.
"I feel I'm going to walk out of here with a bull's-eye on my back."
B-35: Still in the pool
He is a middle-aged black man who has a vending-machine business, does tax preparation and sometimes wears a hoodie.
In his view, Trayvon Martin's shooting was not about race. He criticized the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for coming to Sanford to lead rallies.
That was "saber-rattling" and "made me upset," he said, because they politicized an event that he described as "a pretty good fight."
Zimmerman took "a pretty good beating," he said.
He also criticized U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, who accused Zimmerman of hunting down Trayvon "like a rabid dog."
"That's out of bounds," he said of the comment.
Almost all of his friends disagree with him about the case, he said, so he no longer discusses it with them.
"I believe a man is innocent until proven guilty," he said.
E-7: Dismissed
A middle-aged white man who described himself as an out-of-work musician and painter, he appeared eager to serve on the jury.
Attorneys questioned him for an hour Wednesday, and he insisted he had no opinion about Zimmerman's guilt. But then Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson handed him a sheet of paper and asked whether on March 21, 2012, he had written and posted on Facebook what was on that paper.
He read it, looked up and said, "Yes." According to various media reports, it was a tirade in which he accused Sanford police of corruption.
On Friday, the man, identified in a Seminole County Sheriff's Office trespass-warning report as Jerry Patrick Counelis, returned to the courthouse to express concern about his privacy and animosity regarding the way he was treated during the jury-selection process.
Counelis was escorted out of the courthouse and told he cannot return until the Zimmerman trial ends and could be arrested if he violates that order.
Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner
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