(Minneapolis, MN) 5:06 p.m., E.D.S.T.
About 4 p.m., E.D.S.T., Court TV announced the jury had reached a verdict in the murder case against Officer Derek Chauvin.
About an hour later, all parties were present in the courtroom and the judge read the verdicts followed by polling each juror to ensure the verdict was accurate.
Chauvin was accused of murdering citizen George Floyd, a black man who had a drug addiction and was arrested for passing a fake $20 bill at Cup Foods.
The three week trial jury deliberated 10.5 hours before announcing they had reached a unanimous verdict.
The first week was largely voir dire (jury selection) proceedings followed by about two weeks of testimony from 44 witnesses.
This case was the first trial allowed to be televised in Minnesota according to CourtTV.
George Perry Floyd, Jr., died on May 25, 2020 on the nasty street in front of Cup Foods, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A shrine has been marked off on the street with a blue chalk outline of Mr. Floyd’s body where he was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin.
A flash crowd gathered at the Cup Foods shrine to hear the verdict, which they cheered: Chauvin was convicted of all charges.
A nine year-old witness watched from the sidewalk as Mr. Floyd’s life was crushed out of him, like a bug on the street, by police officer Derek Chauvin.
She testified that the ambulance crew had to ask the officers to get off of Mr. Floyd’s body so they could help him.
A Caucasian EMT officer testified that Officer Chauvin rejected her offer to help revive Mr. Floyd, pulling out a can of mace from his tool belt to force her back onto the sidewalk to watch Chauvin murder Mr. Floyd.
The EMT tech had identified herself to Chauvin as an employee of Minneapolis EMT service and showed her badge.
She also testified that she had seen Chauvin the day before in her capacity as an EMT at an unrelated call.
Chauvin chose to bully the EMT back onto the sidewalk where a half-dozen others pled for the officer to get off of Mr. Floyd’s neck.
Mr. Floyd was dead on arrival of the EMTs.
Within eight weeks, sentencing will occur. It took only 330 days to try and convict former officer Derek Chauvin of the following counts:
- Count 1: unintentional murder in commission of a felony
- Count 2: third degree murder
- Count 3 – second degree murder, unintentional manslaughter.
A presentencing investigation of convict Derek Chauvin will be submitted in six weeks, with sentencing to follow in two additional weeks from then (eight weeks from 4/20/21).
Because Chauvin was convicted on all counts, the lower two counts will be ignored and sentencing will be based on the highest count he was convicted of.
Officer Chauvin’s conviction will necessarily lead to the future trials of the other three rookie officers present at the murder scene.
Prosecutors held those additional cases in abeyance pending the outcome of Minnesota v. Chauvin.
“… Pass the George Floyd Justice and Accountability Act,” implored Minnesota Attornery Gen. Keith Ellison, after the verdict.
Jerry Blackwell, the brilliant prosecuting attorney, a black man, said “he was somebody, his life matters, … this verdict will help us … toward a better humanity.”
The jury was comprised of ages 20-something to 60s.
Ken Walker, who was Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, was present in the Minnesota crowd where Al Sharpton spoke after the verdict.
Breonna Taylor is the Louisville EMT tech who was gunned down in her own apartment by Louisville Metro Police; but, no officer was indicted by the Kentucky grand jury for Taylor’s death.
One cop was indicted for reckless discharge of his weapon at the scene because some of his bullets entered surrounding apartments.
Civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, who got a $44 million civil settlement for the George Floyd family, spoke with Al Sharpton after the verdict.
Crump said this verdict proves all people have inalienable rights guaranteed, including blacks, Asians, natives, and Hispanics; but, he chose to omit whites from his dicta.
