The fate of Derek Chauvin, accused of having suffocated George Floyd, on May 25, 2020, by crushing the neck of his victim with his knee, is now in the hands of twelve jurors, who withdrew to deliberate, Monday, April 19, at the end of a final day of pleadings, on the guilt of the accused. The former white police officer is being prosecuted for second and third degree murder, and manslaughter of the 40-year-old African-American. He faces up to forty years in prison if the jury is unanimously convinced that he is, “Beyond reasonable doubt”, guilty of all three counts.
The trial, which is closed to the public, was broadcast live on television. At no time, however, could viewers catch a glimpse of the jurors, seven women and five men, tasked with writing the final chapter of this story which has held the United States, and the whole world, on their toes for almost a year. Given the racial background of the case, the makeup of that jury, six white people and six African Americans, matters.
In the United States, police convictions for murder are very rare: jurors often give them the benefit of the doubt. But the media coverage of the case, the stake for the police, and the pressure of the street will make the suspense reign until the verdict. The city of Minneapolis fears major protests in case of acquittal.
Most of the jurors had indicated, during the selections, that they did not ” could not have “ or ” desired “ watch the video of the last few minutes of George Floyd’s life from start to finish. This testimony, viral, had ignited the United States. Yet on Monday, both the prosecution and the defense re-used this footage, frame by frame, but with very different captions for each.
On the side of the prosecution, the prosecutor Steve Schleicher returned to one of the key elements of this trial: the use of force by Derek Chauvin during the “Nine minutes twenty-nine seconds” where George Floyd is tackled to the ground. Methodical and equipped with slides, he summarized for the jurors how his team had, according to him, proved the charges of the three counts, thanks to the testimonies. He insisted on that of the pulmonologist Martin Tobin. “Asphyxiation is the only cause of death”, hammered the prosecutor.
He also dwelled on the words of Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo – also African American. An exceptional testimony, and incriminating for Derek Chauvin, dropped by his hierarchy. For Steve Schleicher, the former policeman has “Betrayed his badge”. Before jurors who all said they had “Confidence in the police”, he was careful not to put an institution on trial, but did everything to detach Derek Chauvin from it. “There is nothing worse for good police officers than bad officers”, he blurted out in the preamble.
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