February 26, 2014 marked the 2-year anniversary of the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The day also marked the release of a new book that provides an in-depth exposé of the events that occurred during the trial of his shooter, George Zimmerman, that have been rarely explored, until now.
Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder, was ultimately acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of Martin.
Attorney and MSNBC contributor Lisa Bloom’s Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat it raises questions such as: How was that verdict reached? What role did race play in the trial? And, what were jury members doing outside of the courtroom?
Bloom interviewed jurors, witnesses and the lawyers of the trial to answer into some of these questions, along with many others.
TheGrio talked to Bloom, and in our Q&A, she discusses what disturbed her about the trial.
theGrio: As a civil rights attorney and a legal analyst, you personally covered the George Zimmerman trial extensively. What prompted you to write this book and go into details on the trial?
Lisa Bloom: This trial was different. I’ve covered almost every high-profile trial in America and as I watched this case, gavel to gavel, I was very disturbed at a case that I saw going off the rails. The prosecution was going in one direction and the evidence was going in another. It was obvious to me that the case was going to result in an acquittal; both sides were arguing reasonable doubt, so that was the only possible outcome.
When the case was over I had to know more. It seemed to me that this was an injustice but I needed to conduct interviews with participants in the trial to really be sure. That’s why I interviewed the jurors, witnesses and lawyers to find out what really happened and the results of the investigation are in my book and frankly, it was even more disturbing than I had suspected.
Of all the evidence presented, which stood out to you the most in defending the judgment that Zimmerman was guilty?
My “aha” moment was when I was reviewing the evidence during the trial as I would as if I were trying the case myself. I noticed that George Zimmerman, on videotape the day after the shooting, demonstrated that the gun was holstered not only inside the waistband on his pants covered by a shirt and jacket but behind him. It was extremely significant that the gun was holstered behind him.
Because his story was that he was down on his back, that Trayvon Martin was on top of him straddling him, that Travyon Martin saw the gun, reached for the gun and threatened to kill him. And in that moment, Zimmerman says, his only option was to pull the gun and shoot in self defense. Unless Trayvon Martin had x-ray vision, that story is impossible. He could not have seen through the bulk of Zimmerman’s body to a gun holstered behind him. As disturbing as that was, I was even more concerned that the prosecution was not arguing this at trial.
To view Zimmerman’s reenactment of the events and to determine the gun’s position, view the clip below:
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Along with some of the other factors that played a role in the case, race was a large one. But it was dismissed by the judge who ruled that the word “race” was off limits. Talk to me about the impact this had throughout the rest of the trial?
Race was such an important issue in the case. It’s the reason why millions of people signed online petitions, demonstrated in the streets. People understood intuitively that racial profiling was at the heart of the case yet in the courtroom the issue was really bungled both by the judge and the prosecution. Yes, in the beginning of the trial, the judge said that the word “profiling” but not “racial profiling” could be used. As evidence came in, the prosecution should have been on their feet asking the judge to change that rule.
The other racial issue in the case was that the defense was constantly comparing Trayvon Martin to a burglar. Trayvon Martin had no criminal record, no history of violence, was not a criminal. And yet in the courtroom, he was painted as a criminal.
What was one of the biggest discoveries you encountered during the trial – and that you have recorded in your book – that you believe readers would be shocked to learn?
I begin the book inside the jury room with Maddy’s story. Maddy was the only non-white juror in the case and Maddy, to this day, is very upset about how the case turned out. I think people are going to be shocked to hear her story because she tells a story of racial profiling inside the jury room. It was Maddy and five white women and on a daily basis, Maddy felt as if she were demeaned and belittled because she was different. She was the only one who had a Sheriff’s deputy stationed outside of her hotel room door. She had to wonder, was that because of a coincidence or is it because [she] had brown skin?
One of the other jurors was allowed to have her dog with her for 9 hours on a weekend day because she was lonely and she missed her dog. Well, Mattie missed her baby and she asked to have a full weekend with her baby. That request was mostly denied. She got one extra hour with her baby. On the grounds that children can talk. The baby was 3 months old.
I hope that after reading my first chapter, that people will have compassion for her because she was in a very difficult position. But ultimately, I don’t blame the jury I blame the professionals, the prosecutors who should have done their job and frankly, just failed to do it.
For more information on Bloom’s book and to purchase a copy, click here.
Follow Lilly Workneh on Twitter @Lilly_Works