Anderson Cooper scored big last night.
ANDERSON COOPER, host of AC360: She's the first juror to speak out publicly, the first to talk about how she saw the powerful testimony that all of us saw, which testimony resonated with her and the other jurors, which evidence persuaded her and the other five women on the panel.
Read more here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/...
It was ratings bonanza for them.
Juror b37 opened her mouth and confirmed all our worst fears; those six women would not put themselves out to ensure justice for Trayvon.
(This is not an invitation for a lecture. I know, I know, their job was to determine Zimmerman's guilt. Whatever).
So Anderson Cooper sat down with this huge get and here are some of his glaring misses...
From the transcript:
COOPER: Going into the trial, did you have an idea in your mind about what happened?
JUROR: No, because I hadn't followed the trial at all. I mean, I'd heard bits and pieces of what had happened, and the names that were involved, but not any details.
JoanMar's question: I am told your husband is a lawyer, yes? You didn't discuss the case with him?
Cooper asked whether there was a standout witness for her and this exchange follows:
JUROR: I thought he was awe inspiring, the experiences that he had had over in the war, and I just never thought of anybody that could recognize somebody's voice yelling, in like a terrible terror voice when he was just previously a half hour ago playing cards with him.
COOPER: This was the witness that -- the friend of George Zimmerman's who had had military experience?
JUROR: No, that was -- this was the defense --
COOPER: The defense medical examiner?
JUROR: Yes.
COOPER: OK.
In fact this was George Zimmerman's
UNCLE. The one who heard the voice on the tv and immediately recognized it. The one with the copious tears. This juror thought he was the defense medical examiner - an expert witness - and Cooper said, "OK."
Juror b37 thought Serino was very credible.
COOPER: So when he testified that he found George Zimmerman to be more or less and overall truthful, did that make an impression on you?
JUROR: It did. It did. It made a big impression on me.
COOPER: Why?
JoanMar's question: Were you aware that you were supposed to disregard that part of his testimony? Judge Nelson did so instruct you.
JUROR: Right. But that doesn't make it right. I mean, it doesn't make it -- there's not a right or a wrong. Even if he did reach for the gun, it doesn't make any difference.
COOPER: How so?
JUROR: Well, because George had a right to protect himself at that point.
JoanMar's question: Did Trayvon have a right to protect and or defend himself?
COOPER: Why do you think George Zimmerman found Trayvon Martin suspicious then?
JUROR: Because he was cutting through the back, it was raining. He said he was looking in houses as he was walking down the road. Kind of just not having a purpose to where he was going. He was stopping and starting. But I mean, that's George's rendition of it, but I think the situation where Trayvon got into him being late at night, dark at night, raining, and anybody would think anybody walking down the road stopping and turning and looking, if that's exactly what happened, is suspicious. And George said that he didn't recognize who he was.
JoanMar's question: You do know that "George" didn't testify, right? You agree with "George" that Trayvon was behaving suspiciously?
And so it went, on and on.
Not only was Cooper a very poor interviewer, his very obvious bias shone through.
Consider these questions:
COOPER: She said at one point that she heard the sound of wet grass.
Did that seem believable to you?
COOPER: When she used the phrase, "creepy ass cracker," what did you think of that?
COOPER: You felt like, what, she was in over her head?
All those after this woman had made very bigoted, patronizing statements about Rachel.
I'll end with this question and answer:
COOPER: Did you realize how big this trial had become?
JUROR: I had no clue, no clue whatsoever.
JoanMar's question: You really had no clue how big this was? At what point did you think of getting a book deal?