What if Zimmerman Gets an All White Jury?

Accused murderer of Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman almost certainly will eventually face a jury. And what if that jury is all white? A recent Duke University study showed that all white juries in Florida were more likely to convict a black defendant than mixed ethnic juries. Though Zimmerman isn’t black, the defense almost certainly will pull out all stops to make the case that Zimmerman was the real victim and that Martin was the aggressor. In essence this means that jurors will be asked to do a defendant and victim role reversal and put Martin on trial.

The massive barrage of digs, innuendoes, and slanders of Martin’s character and actions that fateful night has been relentless since the killing. So the rule that black defendants inevitably get the short end of the jury stick will be very much in play in the case against Zimmerman. That’s where the danger of an all white jury comes in in the Martin slaying. It could easily happen. Two years ago a Bureau of Justice Statistics report found racial discrimination in jury selection is still rampant, even blatant. A Supreme Court ruling and other court rulings that ban all white or non-black juries have been in far too many cases no more than paper decisions that have had little effect in insuring a diverse jury in cases involving black defendants. The same holds true where blacks have been the victims, and whites or non-blacks the defendants, as is the case with Zimmerman.

The report found that prosecutors and judges in eight….

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via What if Zimmerman Gets an All White Jury?.

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• Hung Jury for Zimmerman? (thedailybeast.com)
• Study finds white juries more likely to convict black defendants (rawstory.com)
• Is George Zimmerman guilty of 2nd degree murder? ” ” Coach is RightCoach is Right (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
• Study: Racial make-up of jury pool affects trial outcome (news4jax.com)
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