SANFORD, Fla. – Attorneys for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, filed a motion on Tuesday to extend juror anonymity for 6 months after Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial.
The six-person, all female jury and four alternates have been sequestered since the trial began on Monday.
Zimmerman's attorney, former Local 6 legal analyst Mark O'Mara, writes in the motion that keeping the jurors names anonymous for six-month-period after the verdict would be a "sufficient amount of time for any community passions to cool, should an acquittal occur, or for the matter to begin its appellate process, should an acquittal not occur."
O'Mara continued saying it is necessary because several prospective jurors said they were concerned about their anonymity and the "possibility of reprisals based upon a perceived unfavorable verdict."
Judge Debra S. Nelson has not ruled on the motion. Nelson has only ruled that the jury will remain anonymous until the verdict is read and didn't determine an exact time the names would be released to the public.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martin, who was 17 years old. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense