The final George Zimmerman to speak out has done so with an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts. The woman, the only minority on the six-member panel, said that she was just following Florida law and didn’t see the evidence to convict Zimmerman.
In the interview, Juror B27 said, “You can't put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty. But we had to grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence.”
B29 could not reveal her full name, since Florida still hasn’t lifted the order keeping the jurors’ identities sealed. However, she did allow her face to be shown and let ABC News show her first name - Maddy. The 36-year-old is Puerto Rican and was the only minority on the jury in a case that brought race to the forefront. Zimmerman is a white Hispanic, while Martin, 17, was black.
Maddy’s interview follows a controversial interview from Juror B37, who spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. She said she didn’t have any doubt that Zimmerman believed he was in danger. She also signed a book deal just hours after the verdict was announced, but later backed down because of criticism. Then, four other jurors said B37’s opinions did not reflect their own and begged for privacy. That left Maddy as the only juror not to speak out until now.
“George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God. And at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with,” Maddy told Roberts. “[But] the law couldn't prove it.”
She had hoped to convict Zimmerman on second degree murder. “I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end.” On the second day of deliberations, she finally decided that the prosecution just didn’t provide enough evidence to convict.
Later, she called the trial a “publicity stunt,” saying that she didn’t think this should have gone to trial.
Finally, Maddy said that she feels like she needs to apologize to Martin’s parents. She feels “like I let them down.”
“It's hard for me to sleep, it's hard for me to eat because I feel I was forcefully included in Trayvon Martin's death,” Maddy said. “And as I carry him on my back, I'm hurting as much [as] Trayvon's Martin's mother because there's no way that any mother should feel that pain.”
The interview airs tonight on World News and Nightline, then tomorrow morning during Good Morning America.
image: ABC