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Juror: 'I Think It Was George Zimmerman's Voice' On 911 Tape

George Zimmerman "probably feared for his life," juror B37 told CNN.
Gary W. Green
/
EPA/LANDOV
George Zimmerman "probably feared for his life," juror B37 told CNN.

(We added to this post at 7:30 a.m. ET. July 16)

Juror B37, one of the six women who unanimously agreed that George Zimmerman was innocent of murder and manslaughter in the death of Trayvon Martin, has told CNN she's convinced it was Zimmerman who could be heard yelling for help on the recording of a 911 call that was a key piece of evidence in the case.

Asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper why she reached that conclusion, the woman (whose identity the network did not reveal) said it was because "of the evidence that he [Zimmerman] was the one who had gotten beaten." She didn't say it was because of testimony heard from experts or relatives of Zimmerman and Martin about the voice, which was picked up in the background of a call made to police on Feb. 26, 2012, as Zimmerman and Trayvon had their fateful encounter in Sanford, Fla.

CNN just played part of its interview with the woman.

As we previously wrote, the 911 recording was important because:

If jurors had concluded it was Trayvon yelling for help or for Zimmerman to stop, that would have buttressed the prosecution's case against Zimmerman.

Update at 8:45 p.m. ET. Believes Zimmerman Was Scared:

CNN now adds that Juror B37 believes Trayvon "threw the first punch ... and that Zimmerman probably feared for his life" before he shot the 17-year-old.

Update at at 7:30 a.m. ET, July 16. No Book Deal:

Juror B37 has reconsidered her plans to write a book about the trial of George Zimmerman, saying that jury sequestration "shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case."

Our original post — "Zimmerman Juror Signs With Book Agent":

One of the women on the jury that found George Zimmerman not guilty on Saturday has already signed with a book agent.

According to Reuters, literary agent Sharlene Martin said Monday that the juror "hopes to write a book explaining why the all-women panel had 'no option' but to find Zimmerman not guilty of murder."

Known now only as "Juror B37," the woman is a mother of two. According to Fox News, she is "in her 50s [and] has lived in Seminole County for eight years. She has been married for almost 20 years and her husband is a 'space attorney,' who worked with the Shuttle company United Space Alliance."

Gawker has posted video of the voir dire — the questioning of Juror B37 during jury selection. Among the things she said during that questioning:

-- That she "knew there was rioting" in Sanford, Fla., after the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's death. As Gawker points out, "in fact, despite a great deal of salivating anticipation by the media both before and after the trial, there were no riots in Sanford, Florida."

-- That she gets her news from NBC's The Today Show and does not listen to the radio, read the Web or read newspapers. She believes the news media is "skewed one way or the other."

-- When asked to describe Trayvon, she referred to him as a "boy of color."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
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