We’ve already heard from Juror B37, who said she thought George Zimmerman’s “heart was in the right place,” and we’ve kind of heard from four of the other five jurors, who made it clear that B37 doesn’t speak for them. Now, thanks to ABC’s Good Morning America, we hear from the sixth and final juror, known as B29 to the court, and known as “Maddy” to the nation:
The only minority on the all-female jury that voted to acquit George Zimmerman said today that Zimmerman “got away with murder” for killing Trayvon Martin and feels she owes an apology Martin’s parents. “You can’t put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty,” said the woman who was identified only as Juror B29 during the trial. “But we had to grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence.” She said the jury was following Florida law and the evidence, she said, did not prove murder. …
The nursing assistant and mother of eight children was selected as a juror five months after she had moved from Chicago to Seminole County, Fla. All six of the jurors were women and Maddy, 36, who is Puerto Rican, was the only minority to deliberate in the racially charged case. …
Despite the prosecution’s claim the Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was black, Maddy said the case was never about race to her, although she didn’t want to speak for her fellow jurors. But her feelings about Zimmerman’s actions are clear. “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,” Maddy said. “[But] the law couldn’t prove it.”
The juror said that she had originally been ready to convict Zimmerman on second-degree murder, but ultimately after taking a closer look at the way the law was written felt she had no other choice but to acquit. “As much as we were trying to find this man guilty … they give you a booklet that basically tells you the truth, and the truth is that there was nothing that we could do about it,” she said.
Maddy, who declined to reveal her last name, sat down with Robin Roberts earlier today. The first portions of the interview will air tonight on World News With Diane Sawyer, according to the Orlando Sentinel, with additional clips presumably following tomorrow morning. More over at ABC.
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