Transcript of "excerpt" of an interview with WXIA-TV 11Alive News anchor Brenda Wood and President Carter on July 16, 2013, responding to a question about the George Zimmerman trial:

Transcript of "excerpt" of an interview with WXIA-TV 11Alive News anchor Brenda Wood and President Carter on July 16, 2013, responding to a question about the George Zimmerman trial:

Jimmy Carter: "…..but I think the jury made the right decision based on the evidence presented, because the prosecution inadvertently set the standard so high that the jury had to be convinced that it was a deliberate act by Zimmerman, that he was not at all defending himself, and so forth.

"It's not a moral question, it was a legal question, and the American law requires that the jury listen to the evidence presented, and I think another action that was taken in the courtroom was not to bring in the race issue at all. The prosecution avoided that subject quite clearly. So President Obama said he regretted the decision, but that we had to accept the results of the jury decision."

Wood: "And you take that same position?"

Carter: "I do."

Wood: "Does it say anything about race in America?"

Carter: "I can't allege that the six jurors , all of whom are women, are not just as sensitive about the race issue as I am, or that you are. I don't know that. I would presume that they listened to the evidence. The judge warned them over and over that they had to listen to the evidence only, not to their own feelings about race. And since neither side was willing to bring in the race issue, as far as the jury was concerned, they could not consider that. My belief is that the verdict will stand, it can't be appealed in the criminal case. The family might bring law suits."

Wood: "But given the reaction in this country, you can't ignore it, race. Our country is responding in such a way that it makes you wonder where we stand."

Carter: "I've seen outbreaks of this before , in California when the black man was being beaten up by the police and when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, there were terrible race riots. I think eventually, no matter how deep the moral feelings and personal feelings might be among African Americans or others, with time passing they start saying 'what can we do about the present and the future' and put aside their feelings about the past," Carter said. "I think that's what's going to happen in our country."

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