The jury have given their verdict on the case
The jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd has found the defendant guilty on all charges.
The trial of the former police officer lasted three weeks. After closing statements on Monday, the jury retired to consider their verdict.
Chauvin was on trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter, after the death of George Floyd in May 2020.
Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd shouted “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death sparked global protests against racial injustice and police mistreatment of Black people.
The jury took about 11 hours to reach a verdict.
The 12 jurors were made up of six white people, four Black and two multiracial. Seven of the jurors were women and five were men. A significant effort was made in the build-up to the trial to make the jury as balanced and diverse as possible.
The jury considered the testimony of 45 witnesses which included doctors, use-of-force experts, police officers, bystanders who witnessed the incident and people who were close to Floyd.
They had to come to an unanimous verdict in their decision.
Chauvin’s defence argued that Floyd’s death was not as a result of Chauvin’s actions but rather pre-existing heart problems that Floyd had, as well as his previous drug use. The prosecution argued that Chauvin’s actions were the cause of the 46-year-old’s death, and that the ex-police officer murdered him.
US President, Joe Biden, rescheduled a planned speech to watch the verdict from the White House. He said he was praying for the “right verdict” and confirmed he had called Floyd’s family to express his support.
Cities across the US are bracing for demonstrations in the aftermath of the verdict. They had been preparing for protests regardless of the outcome of the trial.
