It’s been over a year since 17 year old Trayvon Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman after he claimed self-defense, saying the teen attacked him back in February 2012. Trayvon’s case received national attention and even inspired a “hoodie”, Arizona Tea and Skittles (what the boy had in his possession when he died) campaign from the public and even celebrities because a vast majority of the country was upset that the young teen seemed to have been killed for no reason. Well, this week started the process to justice for either Trayvon or George if he’s proven innocent, as jury member selection started Monday.
According to The New York Times, potential jurors are being questioned one by one for at least 30 minutes and have been asked to fill out a survey and answer questions such as “Do you watch the news?, Did you read about the trial online?, Do you watch Fox News, or CNN, or NBC?, Do you realize that ‘CSI,’ the popular crime show, is fiction?”. It’s understandable why the state of Florida is going through all these precautions in order to decide who will help determine the fate of the lone suspect left in the Trayvon Martin case. They want to ensure that no other factors such as race or public influence, guide their decision-making process.
As reported by The New York Times:
…After the prosecution and defense teams agree to prospective jurors culled from the initial round, which could last days if not weeks, a second round of questioning will occur. A final jury of six will be selected, plus alternates, under the rules for trials of second-degree murder in Florida. The judge has yet to decide whether they will be sequestered.
Since the incident and up until now, Zimmerman has received a tremendous amount of negative feedback and threats, not only for killing an unarmed Martin, but because of Martin being Black, the incident is also being considered a race issue since Zimmerman claimed that Martin looked suspicious as he conducted his duties as a volunteer neighborhood watchman over a year and a half ago. The NY Times reported that Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman, “told reporters that his family, which is living in an undisclosed location, frequently received death threats” and since last year NY Times stated that Zimmerman has “rarely ventured outside and traveled in disguises and body armor” on the rare occasion he did go out.
The trial has just gotten underway, and hopefully we are in for a thoroughly examined and fair case when everything is all said and done. How effective do you think the pre-screening of jurors will be in this case? Do you believe the state has a good chance at finding a majority of non-biased individuals to decide the fate of Zimmerman? How much more backlash do you think will occur if this case does not go in Martin’s favor?
Dr. O
