Just two days after delivering the verdict that is still being discussed all over the country one of the jurors from the George Zimmerman murder trial, known only as Juror B37, appeared on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" to give some insight into the decision made by the jury. Among other things B37 said that the jury did not think race played a role in the shooting of Trayvon Martin and that the jury had "no doubt" that Zimmerman feared his life was in danger when he pulled the trigger, according to CNN.
Juror B37 is the first jury member to speak publicly about the high-profile and racially-charged case. The names of the jury members are going to remain sealed for at least a few months under orders from the judge although jurors are allowed to speak publicly if they choose to do so, according to the Miami Herald.
Juror B37 told Anderson Cooper that she thought that Zimmerman's intent was to protect the neighborhood but that he never should have gotten out of his car.
"I think George Zimmerman is a man whose heart was in the right place, but just got displaced by the vandalism in the neighborhoods, and wanting to catch these people so badly that he went above and beyond what he really should have done," Juror B37 said. "But I think his heart was in the right place. It just went terribly wrong."
One of the questions that was hotly debated during the case was over who started the altercation, Martin or Zimmerman? Juror B37 believed Zimmerman's account that Martin became physical first.
"I think George got in a little bit too deep, which he shouldn't have been there," Juror B37 said. "But Trayvon decided that he wasn't going to let him scare him...and I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him."
Ever since the shooting the case had been portrayed as having a racial element, both by the media and the prosecution. It has been suggested that the only reason Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Peruvian, found Martin to be suspicious was because he was a young black male. Juror B37 told CNN that she, as well as the rest of the jury, did not think race played a role in the case.
Cooper asked Juror B37 directly if she thought that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin.
"I don't think he did," Juror B37 said. "I think just circumstances caused George to think that he might be a robber, or trying to do something bad in the neighborhood because of all that had gone on previously. There were unbelievable, a number of robberies in the neighborhood."
"So you don't believe race played a role in this case?" Copper asked next.
"I don't think it did. I think if there was another person, Spanish, white, Asian, if they came in the same situation where Trayvon was, I think George would have reacted the exact same way."
Later in the interview Cooper would ask if she felt the rest of the jury felt the same way. Juror B37 would explain that race was never part of the discussions that they had in the jury room and that she believes, but can't be certain, that none of the jury felt that race was a factor in the case.
Juror B37 also went into detail about how the jury came to their decision. When they first started deliberations she said that there were three votes for acquittal, two for manslaughter and one for murder. After going over the evidence and what was required to produce a guilty verdict the jury eventually changed their mind.
Prior to the interview it had been announced that Juror B37 was planning on writing a book about being on the jury. After only a few hours she had changed her mind and the book deal is no longer, according to CNN.
