We’re on day seven of George Zimmerman‘s second-degree murder trial and lawyers on either side are finally getting close to selecting a jury panel.
Since June 10, attorneys have questioned dozens of potential jurors and so far, only 32 have been asked to return for further questioning. Their ultimate goal is to choose 40 jurors before they began a second, more traditional round of selecting the final panel.
LATEST UPDATES FROM THE COURTROOM:
5:00 PM EST: Court recesses for day.
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4:35 PM EST: BREAKING: Court reached magic number of 40 jurors. Tomorrow they will move to the second stage of jury selection.
The list is as followed, compiled by the Orlando Sentinel:
B-12: A middle-aged white woman who works the graveyard shift. She likes the crime-forensics show CSI and said she’d heard Zimmerman was following Trayvon.
B-29: A Hispanic nurse on an Alzheimer’s ward who has seven children and lived in Chicago at time of shooting.
B-76: A white middle-aged woman who said Zimmerman had an “altercation with the young man. There was a struggle and the gun went off.”
B-7: A middle-aged white man who listens to NPR. He remembered when Florida implemented its “stand your ground” law and the debate about whether it was needed.
B-35: A middle-aged black man who owns a vending business. He was critical of the Rev. Al Sharpton andJesse Jackson, and says this case is not racial.
B-37: A middle-aged white woman who works for a chiropractor and has many pets. She described protests in Sanford as “rioting.”
B-51: A retired white woman from Oviedo who has a dog and 20-year-old cat. She knew a good deal about the case, but said “I’m not rigid in my thinking.”
B-86: A middle-aged white woman who works at a middle school. She said if Trayvon had not been “expelled” from school in Dade County — he was actually suspended — “this could have been prevented.”
E-6: A young white woman and mother who used to work in financial services. She used this case as an example to her adolescent children, warning them to not go out at night.
E-40: A white woman in her 60s who lived in Iowa at the time of the shooting. She heard national news reports and recalls the shooting was in a gated community and a teenager was killed.
E-54: A middle-aged white man with a teenage stepson who wears hoodies. He recalled seeing photos of Zimmerman’s head and face that show injuries.
E-73: A middle-aged white woman active in Sanford’s arts community, who is raising her late brother’s 15- and 18-year-old children. The media interjected race in this case, she said.
M-75: A young African-American woman who says many of her friends have opinions on the case, but she doesn’t.
B-61: A young white woman who remembered that “after the protesters, it seemed to turn more into a racial issue…I don’t think it’s a racial issue.”
B-72: A young man who does maintenance at a school and competes in arm wrestling tournaments. He said he avoids the news because he does not want to be “brainwashed.”
E-22: A middle-aged African-American woman who said that after the shooting Sanford police should have booked Zimmerman and asked him more questions.
E-13: A young white woman who goes to college and works two jobs. She heard the shooting was a “racial thing.”
E-28: A middle-aged white woman who works as a nurse. She knew little about the case and has no opinion about Zimmerman’s guilt.
K-80: A middle-aged white woman with children who has not followed the case. She considers the “racial undertones” in the case “disturbing.”
K-95: A middle-aged woman who’s a full-time student and “IT geek” with two children. She was critical of protests calling for Zimmerman’s arrest.
P-67: A native of Mexico who seemed eager to serve on the jury, describing it as a civic duty. “Some people think it is a racist thing,” he said of the shooting.
G-14: A middle-aged white woman. “I remember a lot of anger, a lot of people upset that Mr. Zimmerman was not arrested immediately.”
G-29: A young black woman who has lived in Seminole County eight months. “There is a lot of racial tension built up,” she said, but she “stayed away from it.”
G-47: A young white man who works as assistant manager at restaurant. Zimmerman appears to be “stuck in the worst situation” possible, he said.
G-63: A young, unemployed man who described himself as “mixed race.” He knew few details about the case but denounced stereotyping and said people sometimes interject race into cases.
G-66: A retired white woman who cares for her toddler grandson and moved to Central Florida in 2011. When she saw photos of Zimmerman’s injuries, “I felt sorry for him.”
G-81: A tall black man who lives less than a half mile from the scene of the shooting. There is a racial divide in Sanford, he said, but the media has misportrayed the city.
H-6: A young white man who heard the phone call Zimmerman made to police before the shooting. “He sounded like he was concerned for his neighborhood.”
H-7: A red-haired man about age 50 in a business suit who recalled “a big brouhaha in Sanford,” described protesters as “a nuisance” and said, “I still don’t know why it became a high profile case.”
H-18: A handsome, muscled, dark-skinned man in his 20s with an accent who’s a mechanic, owns his shop with a partner and moved here from Kuwait. He said he avoids discussing certain topics. “When it’s politics, religion or race, I just don’t get involved.”
H-29: A white-haired man who described national civil rights leaders who led protests in Sanford “a little circus come to town.” It was “negative for the city,” he said. “That honestly turned me off.”
H-35: A young woman who said she knows little about the case. She “liked” a photo of Trayvon on Facebook. Needs to move by the end of June, which she said would be a hardship.
H-81: A middle aged man who described the shooting as an “incident” between Zimmerman and Trayvon. H-81 called the shooting a “very tragic situation.” He has two pending civil cases before Nelson.
H-69: A five-months-pregnant woman who said she saw news about the case on television at work. She mentioned several times that she recalled seeing pictures of Trayvon as “a young child” in the media.
H-86: A young white woman, who said she knows almost nothing about the case. H-86 says she keeps up with current events, but “certain cases and things I don’t follow.”
I-5: A middle-aged African American man, he said he heard self-defense was involved with the case, at one point referring to Zimmerman as “the gentleman that was defending himself.”
I-19: A young white woman identified as I-19, who said she hasn’t followed the case and knows only the basic details: “I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the news,” she said.
I-24: An older white woman who said she followed the case at first, but then “I just kinda tuned out.” Describe the case as “a young man lost his life and another man is fighting for his life.”
I-33: An older white man, who said “the more I heard, the less I wanted to hear.” Heard there was a 911 call involved in the case, and “some controversy as to who was doing the screaming” heard in it.
I-44: A father of three who said he’s highly skeptical of the media and its “negativity.” He called himself a “sports nut.”
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4:11 PM EST: Potential juror I44 takes the stand. Described as a Hispanic male in his 40’s.
– Doesn’t find the news credible and gets most of his news from the internet.
– Says he knew of protests, but no strong feelings. “As Americans we have the right to peaceful protest.”
– Says his friends are divided about the case. If he loses friends from outcome of case, “so be it.”
3:36 PM EST: Potential juror I33 takes the stand. Described as a white male in his 50’s or 60’s
– Hasn’t kept up with case but feels “compassion for both entities.”
– As far as watching news? “I’m not in control of the (channel) changer.” Reads the paper “most days.”
2:43 PM EST: Potential juror I24 takes the stand. Described as a white female in her 60’s.
– Followed the case in the beginning but began to “tune out.”
– Describes the case as a “young man lost his life and another man is fighting for his life.”
2:03 PM EST: Potential juror I19 takes the stand. Described as white female in her late teens or early 20’s.
– Says she knows the bare minimum about the case but her boss is very interested. Says they don’t talk about it.
– “I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the news… I don’t have any care about it.”
– Says “death is sad,” but “I don’t know him” so don’t have “emotional attachment.”
– She initially assumed Zimmerman would be going to jail based on what she already knows about the case.
1:09 PM EST: Potential juror I14 takes the stand. Described as a very young white male. Possiby a teenager. Very nervous.
– He understands Trayvon was shot by “a man on neighborhood watch.”
– Says he knows Trayvon “didn’t have a weapon on him.”
– Said that he seen “post-arrest” photographs of Zimmerman. Seen photos of Trayvon, he can’t remember which.
– Learned about case at school. Said some people were “really upset,” but to him it was “just another big case.”
– At school “they brought up the main issues, did Zimmerman have a right to shoot Trayvon Martin or did Trayvon Martin…do something suspicious.”
– Says about 70% of his friends are “pro-Trayvon.”
– He heard Trayvon felt “scared and attacked.”
– Mentions that Trayvon had a hoodie on “that made him look more suspicious.”
– Mentions the protests but calls them “riots and rants.”
12:08 PM EST: Court recesses for lunch. Will resume at 1:10 PM EST.
11:16 AM EST: Potential juror I5 takes the stand. Described as a black male in his 50’s or 60’s.
– I5 heard that Zimmerman was defending himself.
– For news sources, says he likes CNN better. Says HLN was “prosecuting a person before they’ve had their day in court.”
– Seen pictures of Trayvon. News “always showed the one with him wearing” hoodie.
– I5 didn’t think protests were necessary. “You have to let the law work.”
– Believes the protests did “more harm than good” but he won’t “hold that against the state.”
– “I just didn’t think that having the national black leaders in the community was necessary at that time.”
– He didn’t really follow Zimmerman case, but did follow Casey Anthony. Calls her “Tracy Anthony.”
– About Trayvon’s shooting being racially motivated: “At this point, I would say no,” because that hasn’t been proven.”
10:58 AM EST: Court recessed for 15 minutes.
10:35 AM EST: Potential juror H86 takes the stand. Described as a white female in her 20’s.
– H86 says she wasn’t aware about the case, but does follow news. Has not formed an opinion.
– Says she just got a tv two weeks ago.
– Says that the media coverage is slanted, so she is a bit skeptical about it.
9:45 AM EST: Potential juror H69 takes the stand. Described as a white female, possibly mixed with hispanic or asian, and in her 30’s.
– Seen coverage of the case on televsion at work. Does have a Facebook, but doesn’t recall seeing anything on the site about Trayvon or Zimmerman.
– H69 says she knows that Trayvon Martin was not the young person initially “painted” by the media.
– Says her coworker pointed out that the “picture of a young child” was “not accurate.” that made an impression on her.
– “I don’t even know how old he was.” Doesn’t remember which coworker made photo comment.
– Being sequestered would be a hardship for H69. She is five months pregnant.
– Says that pastor at her church spoke about the shooting, but didn’t delve into specifics. Said sermon was about “people dying and accepting Christ before you die.”
9:07 AM EST: Potential juror H81 takes the stand. Described as a black or hispanic male about 40 or 50 years of age.
– H81 watches news and says family and friends were talking about shooting after it happened.
– H81 is aware of the voice-audio debate. Says that won’t form his opinion.
– One side “grieving for the loss of their son,” other side worried about “potential loss… a lot of people hurting.”
– Says you had to have lived under a rock to not know about this case. But says he can put what he knows aside because he hasn’t taken one side or the other.
– Being sequestered would be a “big inconvenience, but yes I could serve.”
– “I do wonder what happens to jurors.” H81’s concern about this case being high profile.
– H-81 has two pending civil cases before Judge Nelson. Related to HOA and property easement.
9:00 AM EST: Court resumes
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Here’s What To Expect Today:
Jury selection will continue. Stay updated with GlobalGrind as we give you a play-by-play of what’s to come.
– For the latest updates straight from the courtroom, follow @GlobalGrind, @GlobalGrindNews, @MichaelSkolnik, @UncleRush and @ChrissyCole.
Here’s What You Missed Yesterday:
– So far, 32 jurors have been asked to come back for additional questioning.
– The Frye hearing to determine if the state’s voice experts were truthful ran over. The defense brought in James L. Wayman, a biometrics expert, to go over credentials.
– To see a full recap of each trial day last week, see below:
