You have totally mischaracterized what the jurors said. They specifically stated that they were under NO PRESSURE to reach a guilty verdict, and they SAID NOTHING about being afraid of post-trial violence. That wasn’t mentioned by any of them. Instead they said tha…
You have totally mischaracterized what the jurors said. They specifically stated that they were under NO PRESSURE to reach a guilty verdict, and they SAID NOTHING about being afraid of post-trial violence. That wasn’t mentioned by any of them. Instead they said that they were aware of the seriousness of their duty to come to an honest and fair verdict and to take their job seriously so that Chauvin would not be convicted without overwhelming evidence. Indeed, their very first vote was on the manslaughter charge and it was UNANIMOUS GUILTY. Before they reached that conclusion as a final vote, they played devil’s advocate with each other, arguing both sides back and forth to make absolutely certain they had no doubts (not even a reasonable doubt) that Chauvin was guilty before moving on to the next charge.
On the next charge the votes were split, so they mapped out the testimony and argued that one back and forth. They watched the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck 8 times and they said it was excruciating and very traumatic. They then went over the pulmonologist’s testimony again and this was, indeed, a “light bulb moment”. Far from “giving them an excuse” to find Chauvin guilty, they specifically said that this was when they REALIZED THAT CHAUVIN HAD KILLED FLOYD BY SUFFOCATING HIM. The jurors then told Lemon that it unavoidably clear that Chauvin had denied giving Floyd the aid that the MPD training required, indeed that was mandatory, when a suspect in a MRT enters into respiratory distress, and especially here where FLOYD HAD NO PULSE AND HAD STOPPED BREATHING. They said the video proved that Floyd was kept in the MRT for 3 to 4 minutes afterwards and that Chauvin not only made no attempt to move him into the recovery position, he REFUSED to help Floyd in spite of his own fellow police officers telling him Floyd had no pulse and had stopped breathing. It was this realization that convinced all of the jurors beyond any doubt at all that Chauvin was guilty of murder.
I urge everyone to watch the CNN interview and listen to what the jurors had to say for themselves. These citizens were honest, unbiased, and did their job with integrity, and without fear or favor. There are even other CNN video interviews with jurors who said on camera, and quite emotionally (crying) that the evidence against Chauvin was OVERWHELMING. Not one single juror, including one of the alternates said a single word about “fear if there was an acquittal”. No one said that. To imply otherwise is dishonest.
I just watched the Don Lemon juror interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGlcM2J90hE
You have totally mischaracterized what the jurors said. They specifically stated that they were under NO PRESSURE to reach a guilty verdict, and they SAID NOTHING about being afraid of post-trial violence. That wasn’t mentioned by any of them. Instead they said that they were aware of the seriousness of their duty to come to an honest and fair verdict and to take their job seriously so that Chauvin would not be convicted without overwhelming evidence. Indeed, their very first vote was on the manslaughter charge and it was UNANIMOUS GUILTY. Before they reached that conclusion as a final vote, they played devil’s advocate with each other, arguing both sides back and forth to make absolutely certain they had no doubts (not even a reasonable doubt) that Chauvin was guilty before moving on to the next charge.
On the next charge the votes were split, so they mapped out the testimony and argued that one back and forth. They watched the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck 8 times and they said it was excruciating and very traumatic. They then went over the pulmonologist’s testimony again and this was, indeed, a “light bulb moment”. Far from “giving them an excuse” to find Chauvin guilty, they specifically said that this was when they REALIZED THAT CHAUVIN HAD KILLED FLOYD BY SUFFOCATING HIM. The jurors then told Lemon that it unavoidably clear that Chauvin had denied giving Floyd the aid that the MPD training required, indeed that was mandatory, when a suspect in a MRT enters into respiratory distress, and especially here where FLOYD HAD NO PULSE AND HAD STOPPED BREATHING. They said the video proved that Floyd was kept in the MRT for 3 to 4 minutes afterwards and that Chauvin not only made no attempt to move him into the recovery position, he REFUSED to help Floyd in spite of his own fellow police officers telling him Floyd had no pulse and had stopped breathing. It was this realization that convinced all of the jurors beyond any doubt at all that Chauvin was guilty of murder.
I urge everyone to watch the CNN interview and listen to what the jurors had to say for themselves. These citizens were honest, unbiased, and did their job with integrity, and without fear or favor. There are even other CNN video interviews with jurors who said on camera, and quite emotionally (crying) that the evidence against Chauvin was OVERWHELMING. Not one single juror, including one of the alternates said a single word about “fear if there was an acquittal”. No one said that. To imply otherwise is dishonest.