by Patrick H. Moore
At I write this I am somewhat in wonder because Juror B29 known only as Maddy appeared in the light to be seen by all of America yesterday when she stepped up and told us the truth about the George Zimmerman second-degree-murder case. She stated in an interview with ABC News that aired this evening:
“George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can’t get away from God. And at the end of the day, he’s going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with. But, the law couldn’t prove it.”
The juror now known as Maddy said she favored convicting Zimmerman of second-degree murder when the jury first began its deliberations.
“I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end.”
And so Maddy tells us what many of us already knew. The truth is that the jury, in their hearts, knew that George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin. But only Juror B29 was strong enough to truly fight for the conviction. But in the end she too was cowed by the “law” combined with the pressure from the other jurors which no doubt grew increasingly oppressive as the hours trickled by and these six women tried to grapple with the enormity of the decision they were required to make.
“You can’t put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty.”
The juror now known as Maddy said she feels the need to apologize to Trayvon’s parents over the verdict that has divided our already divided populace. In a de facto world George Zimmerman stands convicted; in a de jure world he is acquitted of all charges.
The juror who at present is known as Maddy is is a 36 year old nursing assistant. She is Puerto Rican and moved to Seminole County, Fla.,from Chicago only five months before the jury selection. She has eight children.
Maddy knows that the rule of law which set George Zimmerman free does not hold up when held up to the light of what actually happened. Maddy is telling us that the other jurors also knew — that in the real world George Zimmerman is guilty. If the jurors know then surely the learned counsel on both sides — these able and experienced men — must have known, and the judge must have known.
Maddy and the five other jurors deliberated for nine hours with George Zimmerman’s freedom hanging in the balance. Maddy said that it was confusing:
“If a person kills someone, then you get charged for it. But as the law was read to me, if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally, you can’t say he’s guilty.”
So in the end, the law was unequal to the task of dealing with the moral question that the jurors were confronted by — with the ghastly images of Trayvon Martin’s body there on the grass, first dead, then covered up and dead, serving as backdrop to the deliberations.
Maddy and the other jurors are living in the shadow of what they have been through. Confronted by the murder and a law that made little sense, they all blinked and Zimmerman was acquitted. Maddy said she has wrestled (is wrestling) with the decision.
“I felt like I let a lot of people down, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Did I go the right way? Did I go the wrong way?’”
And most plaintively to Trayvon Martin’s parents:
“I let them down… It’s hard for me to sleep, it’s hard for me to eat. … I’m hurting as much (as) Trayvon Martin’s mother because there’s no way that any mother should feel that pain.”
* * * * *
Of course Maddy is not actually feeling as much pain as Sybrina Fulton — that pain is unfathomable. But she’s still in a world of hurt. And it’s not going to go away any time soon.
Click here to view related George Zimmerman trial posts:
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Juror B37′s Book Deal Is Withdrawn: Power to the Twitter People
George Zimmerman Post-Verdict: Rachel Jeantel Interview Hits Hard, Very Hard
George Zimmerman Trial: The Great Beast of Polarization
George Zimmerman Escaped Conviction Based on Florida Self-Defense Law
George Zimmerman Trial: Prosecution Hits Hard in Dramatic Closing Argument
George Zimmerman Defense Team Turns Up the Heat
George Zimmerman Was Transformed by Shooting and Killing Trayvon Martin
George Zimmerman’s Defense Team Grills Trayvon Martin’s Mother
George “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” Zimmerman Had a History of Violence
Why the Case Against George Zimmerman Is Strong Enough for a Conviction
George Zimmerman Unlikely to Be Convicted of 2nd-Degree Murder
George Zimmerman Trial: John Good’s Testimony Is “Good News” for Zimmerman
George Zimmerman Trial: Key State Witness Rachel Jeantel Goes Toe-to-Toe with Zimmerman Defense Team
George Zimmerman Was on a Dangerous Drug Cocktail at Time of Trayvon Martin’s Shooting Death
George Zimmerman Trial: Trayvon Martin Death Photos Dominate Day 12
Sanford, FL Has a History of Brutal Racial Oppression