MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Lawyers in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd intends to hold their closing arguments Monday, and each party wants to distill three weeks of evidence to persuade judges to give their opinion on the correct verdict.
For prosecutors, Derek Chauvin recklessly snatched life from Floyd when he and two other officers pinned him outside a corner market on the street for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, despite Floyd’s repeated cries that he could not breathe – actions they say should convicted not only of manslaughter but also on two murder counts.
For the defense, Floyd, who was black, endangered himself by swallowing fentanyl and methamphetamine, and then resisted officers who tried to arrest him – factors exacerbating his vulnerability with a sick heart and raises sufficient doubt that Chauvin, who is white, must be acquitted.
Each side will provide important evidence to support their narrative for what killed Floyd in a case that struggled in America 11 months ago and still resonates. The anonymous jury will later rule in a courthouse surrounded by concrete barriers and razor wire, in an anxious city heavily fortified by members of the National Guard and days after new anger erupted over the murder of a 20-year-old black man. man of the police. in a nearby suburb.
The lawyers are not limited by time, although legal experts believe that long arguments can lose the judges’ attention and be less effective. Prosecutors Steve Schleicher and Jerry Blackwell will share the closing, with Schleicher leading and Blackwell will refute for the last time to close defense attorney Eric Nelson.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Experts expect Schleicher jurors to guide through the elements of the charges. All three require the jury to conclude that Chauvin’s actions were a “material causal factor” in Floyd’s death – and that his use of force was unreasonable..
Schleicher can remind jurors of the key testimony of a host of prosecution medical experts who testified that Floyd died of suffocation caused by being pinned to the sidewalk. He and Blackwell can point to abundant evidence from violent experts who said Chauvin’s actions were clearly improper, as well as Minneapolis police officials who said they were out of his training.
Video played a major role during the trial, both supporting the testimony of experts and driving home the emotional impact of Floyd’s anxiety and death. Prosecutors may play videos again during their closing, and experts believe they expect that.
Guilty judgments must be unanimous, meaning that Nelson must doubt the various cases in the minds of just one single juror. His conclusion will certainly return to the themes of his cross-examination of prosecution witnesses and the brief defense case he filed.
Nelson will certainly highlight how the country’s medical investigator, Dr Andrew Baker, did not conclude that Floyd died of suffocation – to place him in conflict with the medical experts of the prosecutor, although Baker did mention Floyd’s death as a murder and testified that he believes that Floyd’s heart was partly spent because he was pinned to the ground.
Nelson will also certainly remind the jury of Floyd’s drug use, perhaps using the same language he used frequently during the testimony phase – with questions that emphasized words such as ‘illegal’. Despite the long duration of Floyd’s self-control, he is likely to reproduce the use of Chauvin as prescribed by ‘fluid’ and ‘dynamic’ factors that cannot be otherwise., including the prospect of Chauvin being distracted by a threatening group of bystanders.
Nelson is also likely to question the strongest part of the state’s case – the video of Floyd’s arrest, including bystander Darnella Frazier’s video which largely confirms the perception of the events in public. Nelson argued that camera angles could be misleading, and used other views to suggest jurors that Chauvin’s knee was not always on Floyd’s neck.
“If I were Nelson, I would do a lot of things, because a lot of things need to be done,” said Joe Friedberg, a local defense attorney who was not involved in the case. “He’s in desperate trouble here.”
Fourteen jurors heard evidence, including two deputies. If Judge Peter Cahill follows the usual practice of dismissing the last two selected as substitutes, the 12 who will deliberate will include six white and six black or multiracial judges..
Second-degree murder requires prosecutors to prove Chauvin is meant to harm Floyd. Third-degree murder requires proof that Chauvin’s actions were “extremely dangerous” and were indifferent to loss of life. Second-degree manslaughter requires jurors to believe that he caused Floyd’s death through negligence and deliberately risked causing serious injury or death.
Each count has a different maximum sentence: 40 years for unintentional murder in the second grade, 25 years for murder in the third grade and ten years for manslaughter in the second grade. The sentencing guidelines require much less time, including 12 1/2 years for the murder.
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Webber reported from Fenton, Mich.
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Find AP’s full coverage of George Floyd’s death at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd