One of the jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman said she had “no doubt” he feared for his life in the final moments of his struggle with Trayvon Martin, and that was the definitive factor in the verdict, reports CNN. The woman, identified only as Juror B37, said, “I think George Zimmerman is a man whose heart was in the right place, but just got displaced by the vandalism in the neighborhoods, and wanting to catch these people so badly that he went above and beyond what he really should have done.” She said three jurors voted to convict and three to acquit on the first jury room ballot.
If anything, Zimmerman was guilty of not using “good judgment,” the juror said. “When he was in the car, and he had called 911, he shouldn’t have gotten out of that car,” she said. She also said she believes Martin threw the first punch in the confrontation that followed. “I think George got in a little bit too deep, which he shouldn’t have been there. But Trayvon decided that he wasn’t going to let him scare him … and I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him,” she said. She said the six jurors did not believe race played a role in the shooting.