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The four-part Jury Speaks on Oxygen looks at the trials of Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, George Zimmerman and Robert Durst.

The Zimmerman jury was the toughest episode to produce, executive producer Nancy Glass said by email Saturday. We reached out to all six jurors and the four alternates. Five out of 10 refused to talk about the case. One juror said it ruined her life and her marriage. She said she would never speak about it again.

The Jury Speaks: George Zimmerman premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on Oxygen.

Three out of the six voting jurors agreed to participate, but two of them would not be in the same room as the third, Glass said.

Amy Tronolone and Christine Barry get together with alternate Lauren German to reassess the Zimmerman verdict. In 2013, the Seminole County jury acquitted the Neighborhood Watch volunteer of murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black 17-year-old.

Madelin Rivera, the only nonwhite on the six-woman jury, is interviewed separately.

This case was so controversial and the aftermath was so emotional, it isnt surprising the jurors were reluctant to talk, Glass said.

The verdict sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and protests across the country.

Rivera had given interviews to ABCs Good Morning America and the syndicated Inside Edition. Glass said its the first time that Tronolone, the jury foreperson, and Barry have spoken since the immediate aftermath of the trial.

Barry derides the interview that Rivera gave to GMA as nonsense, and Germain agrees.

Everybody has their own opinion, Rivera told me in an interview last week. Im not here to talk trash about anybody else.

Defense attorneys Mark OMara and Don West give interviews to The Jury Speaks.

We spoke to the lead prosecutors on several occasions, but they had no interest in speaking publicly about the case, Glass said. This has been a common theme with prosecutors who lose high-profile cases.

Glass said she hopes viewers take away a message from the Zimmerman episode.

Being a juror on this trial was much more difficult and complex than anyone can imagine, she said. A young man lost his life, and even though the jurors stand by their verdict based on the letter of the law, the charges levied and the evidence presented, they feel as if justice wasnt served. The narrow guidelines they were given forced them into their verdict. What they learned about Zimmerman in the aftermath of the verdict has disturbed some of them deeply.

Rivera says she followed the instructions given to the jury, but still believes that Zimmerman got away with murder, a point she made to GMA in 2013.

Tronolone and Barry also say they followed the law although they felt sympathy for Trayvons family.

The Jury Speaks started Saturday with a look at pop singer Jackson, who was found not guilty of molesting a 13-year-old boy. The series continues at 9 p.m. Sunday (today) with a look at the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The series concludes Tuesday with a look at Dursts acquittal of murder in 2003.

hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com and 407-420-5756.

Excerpt from:
George Zimmerman: 'Toughest episode to produce' - Orlando Sentinel

Aida Mallard @AidaMallard

Shon Smith, clinical assistant professor in the UF Counselor Education program, recently received national attention for two major achievements involving separate divisions of the American Counseling Association.

Smith is being recognized for his leadership as president of the Florida Counseling Association, following the controversial 2012 shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the subsequent acquittal in 2013 of Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, according to a release from UF College of Education.

Smith facilitated the Florida Counseling Association's response to join the NAACP, local law enforcement and other community groups in a peaceful dialogue for healing, growth and empowerment and positive relationships with area police departments. The alliances and training sessions began in Sarasota and Manatee counties in 2013, and last year, expanded to Alachua and Marion counties.

Smith received the 2017 Mary Smith Arnold Anti-Oppression Award from ACA's Association of Counselors for Social Justice, which honors professional counselors and educators who have an exemplary record of challenging multiple forms of oppression in the counseling professions and in their local schools and communities.

Smith is president-elect of ACA's Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, which strives to improve cultural, ethnic and racial empathy and understanding through programs that advance and sustain personal growth.

Smith, who has a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Duquesne University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is the past chair of the ACA-Southern Region, representing 22,000 of the 56,000 ACA members. His research interests include multicultural and social justice competencies, leadership and advocacy within the counseling profession, and working with military families on adjustment and re-adjustment issues.

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Gainesville resident Henry J. Schott was named to the Rhodes College Honor Roll for the 2017 spring semester. To qualify for the honor roll, a student must be enrolled in at least 16 credit hours of academic work and must achieve a semester grade point average of 3.85 or better, according to a release from Rhodes College, a nationally ranked private liberal arts college Memphis, Tennessee.

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Gunwald named to fellowship

Sabine Grunwald, professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, department of water sciences, is one of 12 fellows selected to the Soil Science Society of America, a professional association.

According to UF/IFAS, Grunwald specializes in digital soil mapping and modeling of soil landscapes. One thing she measures is how well soil stores carbon and how it is changed by global climate and land-use shifts. Her research also includes soil sensing, ecosystem service assessment and developing new soil indices to optimize soil management.

Grunwald said her most recent research has found that climate change matters because it changes the total environment above ground and below ground - often impacting the whole system. She said soil is essential for a functioning environment and ultimately to preserve life on Earth.

We are all part of the environment, whether we live in cities or rural areas. Thus, how we treat and how we manage soil-ecosystems impacts all of us, she said.

Grunwald compares soil health to human health. We want to stay in the green zone to be healthy, Grunwald said. The same is true for soils. Staying in the green zone means to maintain healthy soil environments that benefit all of us. Imagine if there was no soil in your backyard, under the citrus grove, the blueberry field, the wetland, the forest or under your feet and you would likely recognize that the world is bleak, barren and inhospitable.

Her peers praised her work.

While her research program can be ranked as exemplary, her teaching program is where she shows her greatest level of creativity, said Nick Comerford, professor of soil and water sciences and director of the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center in Quincy, Florida. Comeford said Grunwalds computer and digital media skills helped to develop the first master's distance education program for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. At the time, Grunwald served as coordinator of the new masters program in environmental science and became director of the departments distance education programs.

Ramesh Reddy, chairman of the UF/IFAS soil and water sciences department, said Grunwald is the 12th active faculty member in the department chosen fellow.

Dr. Grunwald is an outstanding scientist who developed an internationally recognized interdisciplinary program focused on soil-landscape analysis to develop a framework for sustainable holistic land-resource management, Reddy said.

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Achievers: UF counselor noted for efforts with police - Gainesville Sun

Maxine Waters comments about Ben Carson knowing nothing about and caring nothing about people in public housing had me rolling on the floor. He grew up very poor. I think he has some idea. Waters on the other hand, doesnt even live in the congressional district she represents. It has the second highest number of African Americans in California. The district she actually lives in has 6 percent, nearing the level of segregation of the 1950s.

She also lives in a 6,000-square foot, $4.3 million mansion in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in L.A. How did she manage that working for 40 years in government? How does she keep getting re-elected when she doesnt even live in her district? Maybe the blacks in her home district need to be asking themselves these questions instead of falling for the same tired rhetoric from the Democratic Party that only seems to care about them around election time.

In the 513 days between the killing of Trayvon Martin and the courts verdict on George Zimmerman, 11,106 blacks were murdered by other blacks nationwide. 2014 statistics show that more black babies were aborted just in New York City (31,328) than were born (24, 759) disregarding all claims of the Black Lives Matter movement. Killings in Chicago, mostly black on black, have risen 46 percent since a year ago.

But all Democrats like Waters can do is trash President Trump and push for his impeachment? Why, because her candidate lost the election? I have to ask myself why African Americans are almost always Democrats with the track record they have for not keeping campaign promises. Think Obama. Not that the Republicans walk on water in that area. At least Trump appointed a man like Ben Carson over HUD as someone who understands and wants to help poor blacks improve their lives like he did his own.

The Democrats are playing you for a political chump, you are a traitor to your own race. Malcolm X, one of my heroes from the 60s said.

He was killed a few days later by black Muslim Democrats. Im also not forgetting the comment from then Democratic President, Lyndon Johnson after signing the Civil Rights Act. Ill have those n***ers voting Democrat for the next 200 years.

Wake up people. Stop complaining about whitey and do something about the so-called friends within your own ranks.

And as far as Im concerned, Maxine Waters is a perfect example of why Affirmative Action is not always a good idea. She opens her mouth and dumb rolls out. She is poised to take apart Ben Carson when he comes before her committee. She has vowed to take his a** apart. I have no fear for Ben Carson as he is a brilliant man who came up the hard way and hasnt forgotten it. I only hope its televised so we can watch him put her in her place.

Maxine Waters would do well to remember that famous Mark Twain quote, It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Instead of all the infighting between Dems and Reps, how about coming together and working for the people who put you in office?

Connie Knox

Fort Madison

Excerpt from:
Best to keep your mouth shut - Keokuk Gate City Daily

NBCUniversals Oxygen recently rebranded to focus on true crime content, and one of its new shows in that genre isThe Jury Speaks, which features perspectives from people who served on the juries of famous court cases. To promote that show, Oxygen is running a clever promotion online: It will bring some of its featured jurors to Reddit, where they will field questions posed by the websites IAMAcommunity.

The people Oxygen will bring to Reddit include jurors from the Robert Durst, George Zimmerman, and Michael Jackson cases. Christopher Darden(pictured above), who famously served as a member of the prosecution during O.J. Simpsons murder trial, will show up for a question-and-answer session as well.

Oxygens use of Reddit as a promotional tool is not surprising given the degree to which the cable hubhas embraced digital media companies. Notably, it will be one of the first channels to distribute a TV show produced by BuzzFeed when itreleases a true crime series discussing the death of a Mississippi teen.

The first of Oxygens Reddit depositions will take place on July 22 at 9 PM ET, when Darden will take the stand onthe IAMA forum (The Jury Speakswill premiere at the same time.)If were lucky, well finally get the famous prosecutors thoughts on the legendary legal case of Duck-Sized Horses v. Horse-Sized Duck.

Read the rest here:
Oxygen To Promote New True Crime Series By Letting Reddit Users Question Famous Jurors - Tubefilter

Three jurors from the George Zimmerman trial are going on national television to defend their controversial verdict one that sparked protests across the country and legal analysts say they could perform a public service.

People dont understand you have to follow the law, juror Madelin Rivera said in an interview. They give directions to the jury, and you follow that.

Rivera (known as juror B-29 during the trial), Amy Tronolone (D-40) and Christine Barry (B-51) appear in The Jury Speaks: George Zimmerman at 9 p.m. Monday on Oxygen. The series also talks to jurors in the trials of Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson and Robert Durst.

The Zimmerman jurors names were made public in April 2014, but the Orlando Sentinel typically does not identify jury members unless they have agreed to be interviewed.

A Seminole County jury in 2013 acquitted Neighborhood Watch volunteer Zimmerman of murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, black 17-year-old. The not-guility verdict in Sanford helped spur the Black Lives Matter movement.

The issue for jurors came down to self-defense. Trayvon was on top of George Zimmerman, said Rivera, the only non-white juror on the six-woman panel. Did George Zimmerman feel like he was threatened, fighting for his life? Thats how we all made the decision.

The concept of The Jury Speaks sounds great, said attorney Richard Hornsby, who was a Zimmerman trial analyst for WESH-Channel 2.

Whenever there is a verdict that runs contrary to public sentiment, the public wants to understand how such a seemingly incorrect decision could be reached, he said. If anything, this show will help the public understand that verdicts are based on filtered evidence and are reached based on detailed legal instructions, not necessarily human intuition. And if a juror follows the law, they often will have to return verdicts that defy public expectations.

Rivera has given interviews to ABCs Good Morning America and the nationally syndicated Inside Edition. The Jury Speaks broadens the publics look at the Zimmerman jury.

Tronolone, the jury foreperson, talks of Trayvons family in the program. Our hearts were with that family, but theres nothing we could really do in reference to the case or the law, she said.

Juror Barry recalls that jurors tried to stick with the facts. Youve got to move past the part that somebody should pay for something, she says in the series. You cant do that. It doesnt work that way.

In The Jury Speaks, several jurors take another vote, knowing everything since the verdict: They stand by their decision but slam Zimmerman.

Mark NeJame, who was a legal analyst for CNN, says The Jury Speaks could add to peoples understanding. The state in the Zimmerman case was miserable and tried to stretch the truth, he says. Im no fan of Zimmerman. In that case, the jury technically reached the right legal decision, but it was not necessarily the right moral one.

Zimmermans defense attorneys Mark OMara and Don West appear in The Jury Speaks, but there are no new interviews with prosecutors, who are seen in trial footage.

In an interview, OMara said he was a little bit concerned were turning into a criminal justice system where people have to put their lives on hold, take on this artificial standard beyond a reasonable doubt then afterward theyre open to constant review and threats.

Jurors shouldnt be subject to ongoing review, he said. The jury made their decision. You have to respect it, he said. I dont like that all of a sudden we have a TV program, Did They Do It Right? We need to be careful to protect the process from the invasion of body snatchers of intense media scrutiny.

The program explores the challenges and frustrations the jury endured in 22 days of sequestration. Other jurors talk: Lauren Germain, an alternate, and David Ramirez, who says he was dismissed because security guards couldnt keep track of him.

Rene Stutzman, who covered the trial for the Sentinel, shared her initial reaction to the program.

I knocked on the doors of all these jurors and why didnt they talk to me? They were afraid for their safety, she said.

But Stutzman sees good in the jurors coming forward now.

If jurors can articulate how they voted and people understand, that has real value, she said. The core issue here is people expect justice and the law to be the same, and they are not. The law required them to look at the mind of George Zimmerman as he was on the ground with Travyon Martin above him pounding his head on the sidewalk.

Being a juror cost her, Rivera said. She said she lost her home and her job (in a nursing home); family and friends fell away because of the verdict; and people threatened her children. She went through a really bad depression and felt in danger at all times. She had just moved to Central Florida (from Chicago), didnt know how big the case was and didnt understand the jury process, but she learned.

Now the mother of eight plans to go to college and become a teacher because she says she wants to make a difference.

I wanted to speak the truth, Rivera said of taking part in The Jury Speaks. I wanted people to understand in my eyes, it wasnt about race.

The show should play well in legal circles.

As a trial lawyer, I would definitely watch it, Hornsby said, because there is nothing more valuable than understanding how a juror reaches a difficult decision that they must know will be unpopular.

hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com and 407-420-5756

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George Zimmerman verdict: The jury speaks - Orlando Sentinel - Orlando Sentinel