The trial against the former officer Derek Chauvin, the main defendant in the death of George Floyd, enters its final stage this Monday in a court in Minnesota, where both parties will present their last arguments.
The jurors will then begin their deliberations to reach a verdict against the former Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer.
Chauvin is charged with the crimes of murder in the second degree, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; murder in the third degree, with a maximum sentence of 25 years, and murder in the second degree, which carries up to 10 years of deprivation of liberty.
However, as he has no criminal record, he could only be sentenced to a maximum of 12 and a half years in prison for the first two charges and 4 years in prison for the third.
BOTH PARTIES WILL TRY TO CONVINCE THE JURIES
The eyes of the country are focused on the court, where the case that sparked protests across the US, enters its final stage.
The ex-policeman took refuge on Thursday in the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and told the judge that he would not testify. This would have been the first time that Chauvin had publicly told his version of events.
Chauvin’s defense only used two days to present their arguments, while the prosecution took more than two weeks in which several witnesses gave testimony and unpublished videos of Floyd’s death were shown.
Both parties finished presenting their arguments, with several witnesses, while preparing their final arguments for Monday, when they will try to convince the jury with their arguments.
The defense of the ex-police officer accused of George Floyd’s death argued in favor of the agent on Tuesday and called an expert in the use of force to testify who justified Derek Chauvin pressing Floyd to the ground, and claimed that things could have It was better if the black man had “rested comfortably” on the pavement.
CONTROVERSIAL CASE OF POLICE ABUSE
Floyd lost his life on May 25, 2020 when four officers tried to arrest him for having used a counterfeit bill to pay at a store.
During his arrest, Chauvin pinned him to the ground by pressing his knee against his neck until he stopped breathing. The tense moments were captured in videos that shook the entire world.
In the images, the now ex-police officer is seen, pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, which generated violent protests throughout the country.
On Wednesday, a forensic pathologist who testified for the defense said that Floyd died of a sudden arrhythmia as a result of his heart disease.
Sgt Jody Stiger told the Minneapolis, Minnesota court on Wednesday.
That contradicts the prosecution experts who said that Floyd succumbed to lack of oxygen by the way it was immobilized.
Thursday’s hearing came after hundreds of people demonstrated outside the Brooklyn Center police station near Minneapolis for the fourth night in a row to protest the death by white police of young African-American Daunte Wright, from 20 years.
The agent, identified as Kimberly Potter and who resigned, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with a crime of involuntary manslaughter.
The families of both African Americans killed by the police in Minnesota organized a joint press conference to demonstrate their “union”, in their words.