After her highly criticized appearance on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, juror B37, who found George Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the killing of Trayvon Martin, has released a statement to the press.
CNN anchor Carol Costello published the brief statement on her Facebook page. Here it is in its entirety:
Thank you for the opportunity to vent some of the anguish which has been in me since the trial began. For reasons of my own, I needed to speak alone. There will be no other interviews. My prayers are with all those who have the influence and power to modify the laws that left me with no verdict option other than "not guilty" in order to remain within the instructions. No other family should be forced to endure what the Martin family has endured.
As for the alleged "book deal," there is not one at this time. There was an agreement with a literary agent to explore the concept of a book which discussed the impact of sequestration on my perceptions of this serious case, while being compared to the perceptions of an attorney who was closely following the trial from outside the "bubble". The relationship with the agent ceased the moment I realized what had been occurring in the world during the weeks of my sequestration. My prayers are with Travon's parents for their loss, as they have always been. I now wish for me and my family to recover from being selected for this jury and return to a normal life. God bless.
In related news, NBC News is reporting that the six jurors, all of whom were women, were treated to manicures and pedicures while on their 22-day sequester during the trial.
Read more at NBC News.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.