George Floyd’s killing: jury begins deliberations in Derek Chauvin trial
- Chauvin, who is white, pushed his knee into the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old handcuffed black man, for more than nine minutes
- Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree ‘depraved mind’ murder and second-degree manslaughter
Chauvin’s lead lawyer, Eric Nelson, countered in his own closing argument that Chauvin behaved as any “reasonable police officer” would, saying that he followed his training from 19 years on the force.
Over and over again, Steve Schleicher, a prosecutor with the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, repeated a phrase: “Nine minutes and 29 seconds” – the length of time Chauvin was captured on video on May 25, 2020, with his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill gave the jury final instructions before it left the courtroom at 4pm (local time) to begin deliberations. Jurors adjourned after four hours and were sequestered in a hotel.
Deliberations resume on Tuesday.
Although the verdict will be seen as a reckoning of the way the US polices black people, Schleicher emphasised in remarks that lasted nearly two hours that the jury was weighing the guilt of only one man, not a system.
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“This wasn’t policing; this was murder,” Schleicher told jurors. He cited the motto of the Minneapolis Police Department, which fired Chauvin and three other officers after Floyd’s arrest: “To protect with courage and to serve with compassion.”