Somehow I knew it would end this way. When I heard the jury was going to be all women, I said to myself, "Self, he's probably going to get acquitted". Turns out Self and I were right. Here's why: women have the uncanny ability to excuse bad behavior and poor judgement. It's true, we really do! It's quite a skill actually and it is one that is honed from years of crappy relationships. Doesn't matter who the relationship is with, parents, siblings, boyfriends/girlfriends, spouses, we are able to take whatever is bad in the relationship and excuse it so that we can continue on in our little worlds, clueless of evil and tolerant of people doing really dumb things.
One question has been running through my brain throughout this whole trial and that was "why didn't he just stay in the car like the dispatcher directed him to?" I totally support Neighborhood Watch type organizations. According to their website "In essence, Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that stresses education and common sense (Stegenga 2000). It teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods." (http://www.usaonwatch.org/about/neighborhoodwatch.aspx?) I think that anytime you get people watching their environment and reporting suspicious activities to law enforcement authorities, it improves the neighborhood and keeps the riff raff at bay. By the same token it encourages people to use common sense.
Mr. Zimmerman got the first part right, he called in someone he thought was suspicious. He's told by the dispatcher to stay in the car, that law enforcement would soon be on the way. (According to American Police Beat, the average response time for an emergency call is 10 minutes. Atlanta has the worst response time with 11 to 12 minutes and Nashville comes in at a lightning speed of 9 minutes.) But does he....no and things go badly for everyone from that decision on.
So let's get to the all female jury. Smart move on that one Mr. Defense lawyer! Women have a history of excusing bad behavior. I can imagine the conversation in the jury room going like this:
Foreman; Now let's take a vote on the first count
Juror #2: I'm sure he didn't mean to shoot that poor kid
Juror #4: Yes...it was dark and there was a little rain, he must have seen something that scared him to get out of his car and confront that kid don't ya think?
Juror #3: Well he appears to me to be a presentable, nice man, look how well he cleans up in court!
Juror #5: I agree...there is no way I will ever believe that Mr. Zimmerman would do such a dastardly deed. Sure he was scared and all, but he did what he thought was best.
If anyone on that jury was in a relationship that was abusive or had ever been in one, they would have readily found his actions to be justified or found reasons to believe that Trayvon Martin did something to encourage Mr. Zimmerman getting out of his car and confronting him. That's how we roll. Women have a hard time seeing the dastardlyness in the world. It's not hardwired in to our brains that people can and do evil, stupid things. It never occurs to us to ask the hard questions like "why didn't he stay in the car like the dispatcher told him?" it would never occur to us to look deeper in to the mind of a wanna be police officer carrying a weapon and wanting to confront an alleged "suspicious person". It would never occur to us to ask those probing questions to try and make logical sense out of his actions. For women, we just need for it to make sense to our brains, we don't need logic or reasonableness....we just need a reason and if we can make it up to make it fit, then that's what we do.
I'm a big fan of Murder She Wrote. In one episode Jessica, who is on a jury, does women proud. Everyone in the jury room wants to convict but she holds out because the scenarios doesn't make sense to her. Jessica was unable to make logical conclusions about people's actions. Truth be told, people rarely do things without a legitimate reason (at least to them). In the end, her deductive reasoning, along with the evidence presented at trial allowed her to persuade the rest of the jury that the guy was not guilty...of course she even found the guilty person but that's just tv drama.
For the jurors...I feel sorry for you. You were given a civic duty and you truly blew it on this one. You didn't ask the hard questions and you didn't put on your critical thinking caps.
Mr. Zimmerman, I feel sorry for you too. You have to live the rest of your life under a cloud from which there is no escape...just ask OJ Simpson. You have to live with the fact that had you stayed in the car like you were told, you wouldn't have to look at the face of someone who took a life.
For women everywhere, stop making excuses for anyone (male or female) who exhibits bad behavior or makes poor choices. We can't protect people from their own foolishness, nor should we. I get that it is in our nature to do so, but it's not helping anyone when we do it. It just encourages more of the same.
This was never going to be justice as long as 6 women sat on that jury. It's not in our nature.
UPDATE: July 16, 2013
Monday night is wrestling night on TV, but when I heard that a juror was going to be on Anderson Cooper 360, I monitored my CNN app and my Twitter feed. Sadly, the juror that "appeared" (she was in the dark to prevent her identity from being disclosed) confirmed everything that I write above. The first vote was 3 for not guilty, 2 for manslaughter and 1 for second degree murder. My favorite quote from the juror went like this...Exclusive: Zimmerman's heart was in the right place. It just went terribly wrong. He's guilty of not using good judgment, juror tells AC360
(BTW, she's writing a book about her experiences on the jury...with her lawyer husband)
Yes...I'm sure that his heart was in the right place which is why he joined the neighborhood watch group. I applaud his wanting to get involved. But he didn't follow their rules either...like not carrying weapons.
I like to watch Judge Judy and so many times she gets these road rage cases where a person is suing another person for damage to their car. Judge Judy always asks "why did you get out of the car to confront them? if you were in fear for your life, why didn't you call the police? or drive away and notify law enforcement if you didn't have a phone?" The reason she asks this is because she wants to determine if the plaintiff did something to escalate the situation (and thereby retain some responsibility for the damage someone did to their car or body) or if they did everything possible to remove themselves from the situation and de-escalate it. Invariably, Judge Judy may award the cost of repairs but will not award medical bills if it was determined that the plaintiff escalated the situation. And it's true...had they stayed in their car, called law enforcement rather than getting out and confronting the person, (who promptly gave them a beat down) they wouldn't have gotten hurt. "You don't get rewarded for being stupid sir!" I can hear her saying that.
I can see her saying that to Mr. Zimmerman too. Except he did get rewarded. A jury full of women rationalized away his stupidity. It all comes back to...why did you get out of the car after the dispatcher told you not to? But the jurors felt that his heart was in the right place, he was frustrated by all the crime in his neighborhood and he really wanted the villains caught. The all women jury allowed this travesty to continue by talking themselves out of ANY type of guilty verdict (I honestly think most people would have been satisfied with a manslaughter verdict) Because well his heart was in the right place, he just had poor execution...(see what I did there? execution...get it?)
It's sad really that this happened. While there are many obvious things that others will talk about, no one will talk about the psychological make up of the same sex jury. If you are a man and want some insight in to how women think...there ya go. We will forgive you most anything, even the killing of another human being, as long as your hearts in the right place.
In the south they have a saying that you can say anything bad about anyone as long as you follow it with "Bless their heart". So, women of the jury...you are all fucked in the head...bless your heart!
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