As the trial kicks into gear this week, Legal Insurrection has a very detailed look at the jurors and how they answered questions during the jury selection process.
I have to say that if I didn’t think this was a case of prosecution via mob justice instead of hard evidence of a crime, I would almost feel sorry for the prosecutor. Almost all of the jurors are noted for their understanding of the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Most of the jurors are pretty hostile to the media and admit that they don’t trust them or what they hear in the news. Several have experience with firearms, including one woman who used to have a concealed carry permit. If you really read the whole post, it’s not the gun experience that makes me think Zimmerman has a chance to seriously make his case to this jury. The comments about understanding beyond a reasonable doubt and standing up to people causing harm to innocents that make me think the State is going to have an uphill battle.
And that’s exactly how it should be. The burden is on the government to prove a crime was committed and that the case was not lawful self-defense.
By the way, I find it amusing that two of the white women the State wanted kicked off are women who recalled that Zimmerman claims to have been injured in the struggle, and they also don’t believe that circumstantial evidence is grounds to convict. Yeah, damn those women who might be open to considering both sides and believe that the State should have to provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt! Those pesky citizens make the life of a prosecutor so hard…
Regarding those two women: In my limited personal experience, expressing almost any preconceived doubts or notions about guilt or innocence in a case will get you rejected as a juror.
FWIW I went through the jury selection process for the Milano murder trial here in Bucks County, and was rejected. I can’t be certain why, but I am pretty sure it was because I, completely truthfully, testified that I had followed the developing story closely in the media; had a preconceived feeling about the relative guilt of the two defendants; and felt iffy about the death penalty for a murder case built on circumstantial evidence. Others have suggested I was rejected because I was an engineer, and too likely to look at the evidence analytically, but I suspect neither the defense nor the prosecution thought they could score points with me sufficient to secure their desired outcomes, and I’m sure that with the luxury of a large pool of potential jurors, and a very high-profile case, that is enough for any potential juror to be rejected.
Unfortunately for Mr. Zimmerman, even if he is found not guilty by the jury he will never, ever be able to escape this. Richard Jewel is still the guy that bombed the Atlanta Olympics, no matter what the actual facts were.
Are jurors legally required to answer questions? Juror summons are subpoenas, so it seems like the right to remain silent and the right to legal counsel should apply. It also seems like it should be impossible to prosecute a juror (because the state can’t fill an unbiased jury, by definition).
Without exploring the details, which I would have to look up and review at this point, there have been unsuccessful (so far) attempts to prosecute jurors for perjury, for not providing information that they weren’t even questioned about — e.g., that they believed in jury nullification and opposed the drug wars. I believe I am still (more than 20 years later) listed as an area contact by FIJA, so I have thought that for safety’s sake, if I was called for jury duty again, I should respond with a letter saying so, and that I know about and believe in jury nullification.
I believe a technicality (?) regarding juror testimony is, that if you can’t incriminate yourself by what you say, then you don’t clearly have Fifth Amendment protections. But the legalities and technicalities surrounding that are way above my pay grade.