A panel of jurors has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, in one of the most closely watched criminal trials in recent memory.
Chauvin, 45, was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. With Americans on edge as they awaited the verdict, the jury announced that it found him guilty.
It took the jury about 10 hours and 20 minutes to reach a decision, which was read late Tuesday afternoon in a city on edge regarding the possibility of more unrest like that that erupted last spring.
The Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis was ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire, and thousands of National Guard troops and law enforcement officers were brought in ahead of the verdict. Some businesses were boarded up with plywood.
FAST FACTS
- Second-degree murder requires prosecutors to prove Chauvin intended to harm Floyd.
- Third-degree murder requires proof that Chauvin's actions were "eminently dangerous" and done with indifference to loss of life.
- Second-degree manslaughter requires jurors to believe that he caused Floyd's death through negligence and consciously took the chance of causing severe injury or death.
Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all charges in George Floyd's death.
The jury was made up of seven women and five men. Six jurors were White, four were Black and two identified as multiracial. Jurors were sequestered, their whereabouts kept secret, during deliberations that began Monday afternoon.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25, 2020 after Chauvin held his knee against his upper body for nine minutes and 29 seconds, as a handcuffed Floyd repeatedly said that he could not breathe.
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