May 12, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The promise of an impartial jury of one’s peers is one of the most foundational elements of America’s criminal justice system, but mounting evidence suggests that promise was broken in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter on April 20 for the summer 2020 death of of Minneapolis man George Floyd during an arrest. His defense argued that he used appropriate force for the situation, and that Floyd’s death was actually due to a lethal quantity of fentanyl in his system; prosecutors argued that Chauvin used a lethal amount of excessive force.
The case, which sparked a wave of Black Lives Matter (BLM)-led violence and protests across the United States, was the subject of intense national scrutiny, including public pressure from activists, media figures, and public officials up to and including President Joe Biden, with many observers expressing concern that members of the jury could have been swayed by both politics and fear that their communities could be the target of retaliatory rioting if Chauvin was acquitted.
The Post-Millennial reports that at least one of those jurors apparently didn’t need to
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