The special message Derek Chauvin wrote on his hand before hearing the verdict that found him guilty

Before the jury gets the verdict, Derek chauvin decided to take a pen. He held it with his fingers and opened the palm of his left hand as if it were a point. He wrote something. Within minutes, members who debated their guilt or innocence for a few hours entered the Minneapolis courtroom. The resolution was unanimous: the 45-year-old police officer was convicted of involuntary second degree murder; third degree murder and second degree manslaughter. The three counts added together could mean a sentence of 75 years.

Before the sentence is formalized Chauvinist and his lawyer, Eric Nelson, they had a brief dialogue. Presumably, the lawyer told him that whatever the outcome of what was argued by the jury, he would appeal the decision. It was then that the former cop – who killed George floyd in May 2020, after suffocating him for nine minutes by placing his knee against the victim’s neck – he wrote something on his hand that could only be made out when handcuffed and showed his palms to the cameras.

Chauvinist wrote down the phone number of his defense attorney, according to a video capture analyzed by the network Fox news and for confirmation that the proper Nelson done on the site TMZ. The convict’s lawyer told him that his client wrote down the phone number before the conviction, because Chauvinist knew that if the jury found him guilty of second degree murder, his bail would almost certainly be revoked and he would be taken into custody.

But why did he write it with one hand rather than on paper? According to your experience, Chauvinist You know that once you cross the entrance to a penitentiary, your belongings could be confiscated and you will find yourself without the possibility of having the contact of your lawyer. So far neither the lawyer nor the convict himself has said what the appeal consists of. However, the two are likely to discuss the possibilities they have in the future, including a possible appeal.

Phrasing

The court decision came after Monday Minnesota State Attorney’s Office and the defense of Chauvinist present their pleadings for approximately four hours in front of the jury. After listening to the arguments of both parties and the instructions the judge has given them for their deliberation, jurors, six whites and six blacks or other races, were isolated and locked in a hotel to review all the evidence presented at trial and pass sentence.

“They must be absolutely fair“The judge told them on Monday Peter Cahill to the 12 members of the jury, asking them to “assess and weigh the evidence and apply the law“. The evidence, however, was overwhelming against the policeman. Chauvin was filmed kneeling for over nine minutes on the neck of Floyd, who was handcuffed and pinned face down on the floor and pleaded, “I can’t breathe.”

In his final statement, the prosecutor Steve schleicher He showed and mentioned to the jury the video recorded by a passerby witnessing Floyd’s arrest for allegedly using a fake $ 20 bill to buy a pack of cigarettes. “Can you believe what you saw (…) It was not a question of police surveillance, but of murder ”he insisted. “Nine minutes and 29 seconds of shocking abuse of authority. The defendant is guilty of all three counts. And there is no excuse“he claimed Schleicher.

According to the prosecutor, Floyd “asked for help with his last breath“, But Chauvinist did not help him. “George Floyd was no threat to anyone», He assured Schleicher. “I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone“.

For his part, the defense lawyer Eric Nelson assured the jury that Chauvinist “did not use illegal force on purpose“. “It was not a strangulation”, he says, and justifies the actions of Chauvinist and the other cops who kept Floyd from falling.

According to Nelsonheart disease Floyd and his drug use were decisive factors: “They try to convince them that Mr. Floyd’s heart disease didn’t play a role (…) I am not saying that it was a death by overdose (…) but it is absurd to say that this did not play a role ”.

Nelson urged the jury to find Chauvin not guilty: “The state was unable to prove its thesis beyond a reasonable doubt“, he claimed.

George Floyd, a symbol

When George Floyd was a tight end for the Jack Yates High School football team in Third Ward, Houston, one of the city’s predominantly African-American neighborhoods, his peers saw him as one of the most promising athletes in the neighborhood, one of those who have the right to dream big.

He scored touchdowns or baskets almost at will, using a gifted physique to turn pro. As long as his school team reached the 1992 state final and he was able to savor the feeling of playing in a big stadium, the Astrodome. Although he lost that game 38-20 to Temple School, Floyd was thinking big.

Floyd’s height made him naturally inclined to be tempted by basketball, a sport in which made friendships with players who would later become well known, like former NBA champion Stephen Jackson. Former San Antonio Spurs said when they first met they were taken aback by the physical resemblance between them. “The first question we asked: ‘Who is your father, who is your father? ” Yes It was from there that we said we were twin brothers. We always went out together, every time I went to Houston it was my first stop to look for him, ”she recalls.

The athletic career of who is now remembered as a “lovable giant” was revealed at Texas A&M Kingsville University, where he attended after graduating from Jack Yates in 1993.

Christopher Harris, a longtime friend of Floyd’s, revealed that Floyd moved to Minneapolis from his native Houston several years ago in hopes of finding work and rebuilding his life at 40. After his frustrations as an athlete, He was charged in 2007 with armed robbery after robbing a house in Houston and in 2009 he was sentenced to five years in prison. as part of a plea deal, according to court documents.

He had a daughter, whose name has not been released, who is now six years old and lives in Houston with her mother, Roxie Washington. Harris said he convinced Floyd to move to Minnesota with friends in search of work around 2014, after he was released from prison.

Incredibly, between his occupations, he met who would later become his murderer. Although Maya Santamaria, owner of El Rodeo Club, cannot confirm that they knew each other personally, she does know that she had Floyd as an employee and Constable Chauvin as security personnel who worked overtime for almost 17 years. .

“I was looking to start over, a fresh start,” Harris said. “He was happy with the change he was making.” Floyd got a job in security at a Salvation Army store in downtown Minneapolis. He later had two jobs, one driving trucks and the other as security at the Conga Latin Bistro, where he was known as “Big Floyd”.

Floyd was fired when Minnesota closed restaurants as part of the coronavirus pandemic quarantine, who demanded to stay at home. Harris tried to help Floyd by giving him contact details for a temp agency: “He was doing whatever it took to live his life.”

(With information from the AP, AFP and local media) .-

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