Minneapolis – The jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-Minneapolis policeman accused of killing George Floyd last year, on Monday retired to consider its verdict.
The prosecution told jurors that Chauvin had murdered Floyd, but the defence said their client had correctly followed police training.
The court is being protected by barbed wire, high barriers and armed soldiers from the National Guard.
Cities across the country are bracing for protests regardless of the verdict.
On Monday, the prosecution and defence made their closing statements in a trial that lasted three weeks. The prosecution then had another opportunity to rebut defence arguments before the jury was sent to deliberate.
How did the defence sum up?
Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson argued that his client did what any “reasonable police officer” would have done after finding himself in a “dynamic” and “fluid” situation involving a large man scuffling with three officers.
He said Chauvin’s body camera and badge were knocked off his chest owing to “the intensity of the struggle”.
Nelson also argued that Floyd’s drug use was “significant” because the body reacts to opioid use, specifically in the case of someone who had been diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure.
The lawyer also argued that his client was unlikely to have intentionally violated use-of-force rules as he would have been aware that the whole “interaction was being recorded. ”
“Officers know that they are being videotaped,” added Nelson.
How did the prosecution sum up?
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher urged jurors to “use your common sense. Believe your eyes”.
“What you saw, you saw,” referring to the video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd for more than nine minutes last 25 May.
“This wasn’t policing; this was murder,” he added.
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell had the final word on Monday. He said the matter was “so simple that a child can understand it”.
“In fact, a child did understand it, when the nine-year-old girl said, ‘Get off of him’,” Blackwell said, referring to a young onlooker who objected.
“That’s how simple it was. ‘Get off of him.’ Common sense.”
What happens now?
The jury will be sequestered to consider testimony from 45 witnesses, including doctors, use-of-force experts, police officers, bystanders and people who were close to Floyd. (BBC)
