ATLANTA — Atlanta will be watching along with the rest of the country as a trial unlike any we’ve seen in awhile gets underway in Minneapolis.
The trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin will place an unusual amount of pressure on the jury.
Chauvin is facing charges of second degree unintentional murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter after the death of George Floyd.
The focal point of the trial will be the 8-minute-and-46-second video tape of Floyd begging for his life while Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck.
“The video is very important,” says UGA Law Professor Ron Carlson. “It’s graphic evidence.”
Legal experts say the Chauvin trial is unique in many aspects.
“It’s unique because the entire country has seen it (the video) already,” says attorney Mark O’Mara, who defended George Zimmerman in the Travon Martin case. “You don’t often have the quality and quantity of video evidence like that.”
The death of George Floyd sparked protests that grew into a massive movement against police brutality and racial injustice.
“This is the most important police trial of this century,” says Carlson.
Carlson and O’Mara agree there is an unusual amount of pressure on jurors under the watchful eye of the nation.
“The black community is going to be focused on the result of this trial,” says O’Mara. “If justice as defined by those who look at that videotape is not granted in a case like this, it’s going to be very difficult to get past.”
There’s also the $27 million the city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay Floyd’s family. The announcement came as lawyers were picking jurors for the criminal trial.
“They had to go back and remove a couple of jurors,” says Carlson. “A few said it convinced them that the city felt the officers were guilty.”
“It could have some impact, you just don’t know which way,” says O’Mara. “Is it the city said he was guilty, so we will as well? Or the family’s already got a whole bunch of money, the scales have been balanced?”
O’Mara says in general, it can be difficult to convict a law enforcement officer.
“Deep in our gut, it is difficult to say to an officer, you’re out there putting your life on the line, we’re now going to hold you responsible and potentially put you in prison.”
The trial could take anywhere from a month to six weeks or even longer.