Former agent Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of African American, George Floyd, who suffocated during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25 last year. This was decided by the jury, which met for two days, at the end of a trial that has monopolized the attention of the US media, politics and public opinion.
The verdict comes after three weeks of hearings, 46 witnesses, including a little girl, and the constant re-enactment of Floyd’s latest live images. Chauvin, 44, was found guilty of all counts, namely manslaughter, second degree (ie without having the intention, but assuming the risk) and third degree murder, ie for “indifference to human life”.
Chauvin, who for nine minutes and 29 seconds kept his knee pressed to Floyd’s neck, was the only defendant in the trial. Qauutro of the 12 jurors were African American.
“The knee on Floyd’s neck was not an unauthorized move,” said Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense attorney, finishing his speech. Outside the court, the relatives of Floyd and Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old boy killed by the police, held a prayer vigil.
“We heard that George Floyd was struggling with drug addiction and that he was being investigated for peddling a fake twenty dollar bill, but there is no evidence that he knew that that bill was fake. He is not accused here and he did not have a trial when he was alive. His last words were ‘please don’t breathe’, “Attorney Steve Schleicher had previously said in the final indictment. “This – he added – is not a trial of the police, it is the trial of a defendant. And for the good police there is nothing worse than a bad police”.
On the last day of the trial, the prosecution, brought forward by prosecutor Steve Schleicher, concentrated the indictment on those 9 minutes and 29 seconds in which the agent kept his knee pressed on Floyd’s neck, lying on the ground, to face down, hands locked behind back with handcuffs.
And on the eve, the family had called for justice, indeed said they “need a sentence”. The trial was broadcast live on TV: access to the courtroom was granted to three cameras of the broadcaster Court TV, a US network that broadcasts the trials. “His last words – said the prosecutor – were ‘please, I don’t breathe’. Floyd wasn’t hurting anyone, he didn’t want to hurt anyone”.
“This – he added – is not a trial of the police, it is the trial of a defendant. And for the good police there is nothing worse than a bad police ”. Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, argued that “the knee move was unauthorized,” despite many policemen and trainers called to testify to the contrary. The lawyer pointed to Floyd’s addiction to opioids, linking death to a poor condition of the lungs, already worn out by the drug.
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