Zimmerman Jury Selected, Trial To Start Monday

George Zimmerman in Court

After two weeks of voir dire, the jury that will decide the fate of George Zimmerman’s fate in his trial for Second Degree Murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin back in February 2012 has been selected:

SANFORD – A jury has been seated and sworn for the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, after more than a week of intensive jury selection in the high-profile case.

The lawyers have selected 10 Seminole County residents — six jurors and four alternates — to serve as jurors for a trial which is expected to last two to four weeks, and is sure to be closely watched across the nation.

All six of the jurors selected are women, and five are white. The alternates consiste of two women and two men. The descriptions below, including the age and race or ethnicity of jurors, are based on the observations of a reporter in the courtroom.

Under Florida law, criminal cases that do not have a death penalty charge only require a six person jury, plus alternates. I suppose the one thing that surprised me is that they were able to find a panel from the local area rather than drawing jurors from another county. The Casey Anthony jury, which heard the trial in nearby Orlando, was drawn from a county in Florida’s panhandle in part due to concerns about the amount of publicity that local residents were exposed to during the search for the Defendant’s daughts. Apparently, though, that wasn’t a concern in this case. Previously, the trial judge had estimated that the trial could last up to four weeks before the case gets sent to the jury for deliberations. During that entire time, the jury will be sequestered.

FILED UNDER: Crime, Law and the Courts, , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. JKB says:

    Following the jury selection over at Legal Insurrection, it does appear a good portion of the jury pool was tainted. At least to the point that many though Martin was the 12-yr old the media showed the photo of.

    As it turns out, at least 30% of the jury didn’t live in Florida at the time Martin was killed.

    It is interesting that the state was trying to keep white women off the jury but couldn’t articulate a race/gender neutral explanation. When the judge put a stop to that, the jury was selected.

  2. nemerinys says:

    @JKB: According to his parents, that photograph of Trayvon Martin wearing the red Hollister shirt was taken in August 2011, when he was 16 years old. He’d had a growth spurt that fall. Of course, you remember that he was only three weeks past his 17th birthday when Zimmerman killed him.

  3. Caj says:

    George Zimmerman will walk! All woman jury and five are white. Are you kidding me? Not only that it’s Florida and the stupid stand your ground law is close to the hearts of so many Floridians. Some don’t feel safe walking the streets! I certainly do but there again I’m not paranoid as some of the gun crazed folks living here! So they feel they have to be armed and dangerous by carrying a concealed weapon! I feel Zimmerman is as guilty as sin, he was told NOT to follow Trayvon. I feel that had Zimmerman been black and Trayvon been white this case would be a slam dunk. Guilty as charged straight away. No question about it. I say that as white person as well. The legal system is not always fair and with the jurors they have selected poor Trayvon’s family I feel won’t get justice they deserve.

  4. JKB says:

    @Caj:

    Well, if this is still a just world, your feelings won’t matter the case will be decided on the facts@nemerinys: .

    Well, the photo didn’t appear to many as a 16 yr old. Such as this woman who was selected for the jury:

    She did, however, recall that some “little boy passed away,” and “I’m assuming he was a kid, 12 or 13.” She recalled seeing pictures of Trayvon in various formats, including T-shirts. She reported hearing people talking about the event and taking sides about the “child who died.”

  5. bandit says:

    @Caj: Good job racist asshole

  6. Caj says:

    Case will be decided on the facts! Really. Those facts being that Zimmerman is a gun loving idiot just like many other Floridians! He was stalking the young man, carrying a gun like he was law enforcement by taking matters into his own hands. Florida being the stupid state it is will honour Zimmerman’s rights above any rights of the young man he killed. Trayvon can’t speak for himself but we are supposed to believe everything that comes out of Zimmerman’s mouth. Well, I don’t believe a word he has to say. He’s a murderer and deserves to be put away for life.
    If he is found guilty I’ll be shocked. If he is, then true justice will have been served.

  7. JKB says:

    @Caj:

    Well, your opinion, my opinion, everybody’s opinion, except for 6 women in Florida’s opinion, don’t matter.

    BTW, you’ve hinted that you live in Florida. You should move. Someplace more to your liking, I’d suggest NYC or Chicago. Don’t worry, Floridians won’t miss you.

  8. nemerinys says:

    @JKB: Yes, many people believe the photo is of a much younger Trayvon Martin (I did), but it hardly matters. It’s a good photograph, and not surprising that his parents would have chosen it for the media until they released other family photos.

    And, yes, the case against Zimmerman will be decided by the jury; a blog, however, is not a court of law. People who’ve formed opinions based on examining publicly released discovery enjoy sharing them – and correcting opinions formed primarily from reading slanted or misrepresented media stories.

  9. anjin-san says:

    Well, the photo didn’t appear to many as a 16 yr old.

    Sure. Just like Zimmermann’s lawyer had a video of Martin’s friends beating up a homeless man.

  10. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Sure, like a Hispanic man (who’s 1/4 black) can get justice from 5 white women…

    No justice, no peace!

    (Did I get the liberal racist talking points right?)