Just two days after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a book agent Monday confirmed that one of the jurors who reached that verdict plans to write a book about the high-profile trial.
Literary and media manager Sharlene Martin said she has signed the juror, still publicly known only as B-37, the designation she was given during jury selection, and her husband to write a book describing her experience as a juror and explaining the controversial verdict she and the five other jurors reached.
“My hope is that people will read Juror B37’s book, written with her attorney husband, and understand the commitment it takes to serve and be sequestered on a jury in a highly publicized murder trial and how important, despite one’s personal viewpoints, it is to follow the letter of the law,” Martin said in a statement. “It could open a whole new dialogue about laws that may need to be revised and revamped to suit a 21st century way of life.
“The reader will also learn why the jurors had no option but to find Zimmerman Not Guilty due to the manner in which he was charged and the content of the jury instructions,” the statement says.
The six-member jury panel deliberated about 16 hours before returning a not-guilty verdict. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder, and jurors were also allowed to consider manslaughter.
Martin said she was contacted by B-37 on Sunday, the day after the verdict. The juror has not decided whether she will participate in interviews or reveal her identity, Martin said.
Her answers to jury selection questioning revealed some details about B-37:
Described as a white, middle-aged woman from Seminole County, she said she works for a chiropractor and has many pets, including lizards and a parrot. Her husband is an attorney. She described protests in Sanford after the shooting as “rioting.”
The juror told the attorneys in the case she has two daughters, 24 and 27. She said she used to have a concealed-weapons permit but let it lapse. Her husband still has one, she said. She expressed strong skepticism of the media, and newspapers in particular: “The newspapers are used in the parrot’s cage, not even read,” she said.
The juror said she watches NBC’s “Today” show in the mornings, but otherwise doesn’t have the time or interest to follow currently events on television or online: “I have no time to do anything other than feed my animals and sleep.”
Martin noted in her statement that she’s no stranger to books on controversial subjects. The literary manager is currently representing a soon-to-be-released book on the high-profile Jodi Arias murder case, she said, and previously represented the family of alleged O.J. Simpson victim Ron Goldman.
The Goldman family was awarded the rights to Simpson’s book, “If I Did It,” due to an unpaid civil judgment the family won against the former football star after his acquittal in Goldman’s slaying. The family published Simpson’s book, calling it his confession.
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