After an immensely consuming high-profile trial, a panel of jurors found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges connected to the May 2020 death of George Floyd.
With Americans watching at the edge of their seats, Derek Chauvin, 45, was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
As reported by Fox News, the jury, which deliberated for approximately 10 hours and 20 minutes, was made up of seven women and five men. Six jurors were white, four were black and two identified as multiracial. Because of the intensity of the trial, jurors were sequestered, their whereabouts kept secret, during deliberations that began Monday afternoon.
It is critical to mention that earlier on in the trial, the judge in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial criticized California congresswoman and political agitator Maxine Waters’ recent inciteful comments, saying her words could be grounds for the defense to appeal the verdict.
In case you aren’t familiar with the comments, during a protest in Brooklyn Center over the weekend, Waters encouraged people to “take to the streets” if Chauvin was not found guilty of murder, as previously reported by Human Events News.
Chauvin’s attorney requested the judge declare a mistrial over the comments, arguing she had prejudiced the jury.
While Judge Peter Cahill denied the request, he said that Waters’ comments were “abhorrent” and she may have handed the defense an opportunity to overturn the trial.
“I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Cahill said as arguments concluded Monday and the jury began deliberating.
Indeed, Chauvin was convicted of three different types of murder. Interestingly, each count carries a different maximum sentence: 40 years for second-degree unintentional murder, 25 years for third-degree murder and 10 years for second-degree manslaughter.
Perhaps this is a guard against the success of an appeal.
At the conclusion of the verdict reading, his bail was immediately revoked and his sentencing is scheduled to occur eight weeks from now.
