Friday, June 14, 2013

George Zimmerman Trial Live Updates: Jury Selection Reveals Interesting Cast Of Characters

Jury selection in George Zimmerman's murder trial resumes in Florida on Friday, following four days of interviews with an interesting mix of candidates. The potential jurors have varied in age, race and education, as well as in personal and religious beliefs. Court watchers have seen a broad spectrum of prospects. Some were undecided and open-minded, while others were candid -- and occasionally bizarre. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES The most notable include: An apparent transplant from the 1800s who referred to Trayvon Martin as "a boy of color." A young landscaper who said, "I'm not a person who really cares about other people." A local resident and "Law & Order" junkie who was disappointed the shooting happened in her town: "This really didn't need to happen in Sanford." A young arm-wrestler, and apparent conspiracy theorist, who remembers the shooting because it happened the same day he did his first one-armed pull-up. "I have a dark view of the media ... I don't want to be brainwashed," he said. A middle-aged female who is married to a retired police officer, gets her news from AOL, and believes in the right to carry arms. "I think he was just defending himself ... I consider myself better educated. My opinion is pretty firm," she said. A Hispanic man who said Zimmerman is guilty because he broke God's law: "The 10 Commandments say don't kill." A member of a pro-Travyon Martin Facebook group who was apparently caught trying to sneak his way onto the jury. A potential juror who said he gets his news from Fark, a partner of HuffPost Weird News. Since Monday, 24 potential jurors have made it through questioning about pretrial publicity. Eighty-five others, from an initial pool of 500 Sanford-area residents, have been deemed unsuitable to sit on the jury. CLICK HERE FOR THE CASE TIMELINE Zimmerman, 29, stands charged in the death of 17-year-old Martin. Zimmerman shot and killed Martin as the teen was walking from a Sanford convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee on Feb. 26, 2012. Defense attorneys argue that Martin attacked Zimmerman, who acted in self-defense. Prosecutors have deemed Martin's death an instance of second-degree murder. If the first four days of jury selection are any indication, day five should be equally interesting. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:00 a.m. EST.

No comments:

Post a Comment