Chauvin defense argued congresswoman Waters' comments were grounds for mistrial

[live love laugh]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/confrontational-maxine-waters-undeterred-marjorie-taylor-greene-criticism-chauvin-trial-n1264534

Chauvin trial judge says Maxine Waters' 'confrontational' protest remarks could fuel appeal


WASHINGTON — “If Chauvin is not convicted, with several GOP lawmakers calling for Waters' expulsion from Congress. "We've got to stay on the street and we've got to get more active, we've got to get more confrontational,” Waters told reporters when asked what would happen if the Chauvin trial, which is wrapping up this week, ends in acquittal. “We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business."

Chauvin's lawyer asked the judge to declare a mistrial over Waters' comments, arguing that she had prejudiced the jury. Judge Peter Cahill denied the request, but said that Waters' comments were "abhorrent" and that she may have handed the defense a lifeline anyway. "I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned," Cahill said as arguments in the case concluded Monday and the jury began deliberations.

Waters appeared at a racial justice protest Saturday night in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, a suburb not far from where Chauvin's trial is taking place, which has been roiled by protests after a police officer killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright last week. “No, I don't think she should apologize,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday. “Maxine talked about 'confrontation' in the manner of the civil rights movement.”

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Waters of “inciting violence” and said if the Democratic majority in the House doesn’t do anything to censure her, “I will bring action this week.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who herself has been the subject of calls to be removed from Congress, introduced a resolution to expel Waters from the House. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., called for Waters should to be “immediately removed from Congress” and other GOP lawmakers called for a “sanction” to “hold her accountable.” "Rep. Waters is a danger to our society," said Greene, who was accused of helping encourage a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, in a statement. Waters responded to Greene's criticism by calling it a distortion of her remarks. "I am not worried that they’re going to continue to distort what I say,...This is who they are and this is how they act. And I’m not going to be bullied ...”

“What she said is nothing new. She has always said the same kind of thing. She has always stood up for the downtrodden,” said Rev. Jewett Walker, a politically connected African American pastor in Los Angeles who has worked with Waters for years. “There are people who do not like that.” In 1992, a year after Waters was first elected to Congress, her South Central Los Angeles district exploded after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King. While other politicians denounced the riots, Waters questioned whether it should even be called a riot. “If you call it a riot, it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason,” Waters said at the time, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion.”

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Clutching at straws

[live love laugh]

3. +1

[panader0]

2. Comments made by Waters long after the killing of George Floyd have zero

bearing on the trial.

[live love laugh]

5. Exactly. The jury is sequestered so there's no impact. nt

[oregonjen]

6. The jury was not sequestered

They are now for deliberating, but not during the trial.

[live love laugh]

7. I assumed it my error. I can't imagine why they weren't though.

Maybe in hopes of this very opportunity. They had nothing substantive.

[Takket]

4. why would anything she says matter?

aren't juries cut off from seeing/reading the news for precisely this reason? how would they even be aware of what she said?

[Caliman73]

8. No. They were not. One of the complaints that the Defense had.

The judge chose not to sequester the jury.

Sounds like he is blaming Waters for his own mistake. Why the hell would you not sequester a jury, ESPECIALLY when the atmosphere is so tense.

Waters has always been a proponent of activism. I don't see anything wrong with what she said in the least. If I were on the jury, I would just it as any other political statement. Waters has nothing to do with the jury. No power, no reach, and she didn't advocate any kind of confrontation with the jurors but with the legal system as a whole.

[Takket]

9. wow...

forgive my ignorance but i didn't even know NOT sequestering a jury was an option. i thought they just always were

[MichMan]

10. The defense had asked for sequestration last week and it was denied

The prosecution argued against it

[Progressive Jones]

11. Cowardly white men fretting over comments of ONE African American woman. LMAO!!! nt

[StarfishSaver]

12. Yes. Suddenly, Maxine Waters is the most influential person in the country, or something

But then, they see Black men as bigger, older, stronger, more threatening than they are so why not attribute extraordinary powers to Black women, too?