Anonymous Male Juror Character Analysis

Smith interviews an anonymous man who served on the jury for Rodney King’s Simi Valley trial, in which the jury returned not guilty verdicts to all four officers involved in King’s beating. In his monologue, the juror talks about the negative impact serving on the jury has had on his life, describing the death threats and harassment he and the other jurors faced afterward. The juror describes feeling disillusioned by America’s justice system, feeling as though he and the other jurors were set up to deliver a not guilty verdict and then scapegoated when the public regarded their decision as racist and unjust.