George Zimmerman Trial - H 2013
Getty ImagesIt was a head-spinning day for Juror B37.
The juror from the George Zimmerman trial who had announced Monday — less than 48 hours after acquitting the Florida man in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin — that she was writing a book has now canceled those plans.
The woman, known only as Juror B37, released a statement to Buzzfeed through her former book agent Sharlene Martin late Monday night backing out:
“I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to protect our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. The potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from my and my husband’s perspectives solely and it was to be an observation that our ‘system’ of justice can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our ‘spirit’ of justice. Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury.”
The identity of the jurors was kept anonymous by the court.
Juror B37 was described as a mother of two grown daughters who grew up in a military family, married an attorney and at one point had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Martin, who specializes in books about sensational crimes such as the Jodi Arias case, had dropped the juror earlier in the evening, releasing her own statement on the matter:
“After careful consideration regarding the proposed book project with Zimmerman Juror B37, I have decided to rescind my offer of representation in the exploration of a book based upon this case.”
The sudden change of heart came after a long day of negative criticism about the book project that included Gawker posting (and then taking down) the woman’s voir dire testimony (given when lawyers question potential jurors for bias) and ended with a tough appearance on Anderson Cooper‘s show on CNN.
