Chauvin juror: After intense trial, verdict was 'easy part'

[Judi Lynn]

AMY FORLITI and DOUG GLASS,
Associated Press
April 28, 2021
Updated: April 28, 2021 8:31 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A juror who cast one of the unanimous votes to convict a white former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd's death said Wednesday that deliberations were relaxed and methodical as he and 11 other jurors quickly talked their way to agreement in parts of just two days.

Brandon Mitchell was the first juror who deliberated to come forward publicly since Derek Chauvin was convicted April 20 of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, following an alternate juror who wasn't part of deliberations. Mitchell, who is Black, said the jury room was a relief after three weeks of emotional testimony that he described as “like a funeral” day after day.

. . .

Prosecutors played a wide range of videos for the jury, including teenager Darnella Frazier’s bystander video that was seen worldwide in the hours after Floyd’s death. That video and the officers’ body camera video recorded bystanders shouting at Chauvin and the other officers to get off Floyd, warning that they were cutting off his breathing and asking them to check for a pulse.

“It's cold in the room. It just feels dark,” Mitchell said of the weeks of testimony. “It felt like a funeral in there... The decision was the easy part.”

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Chauvin-juror-says-guilty-verdicts-could-have-16135073.php

[Probatim]

1. Sounds like the verdict was easier for them than it was for us watching.