Out of sight but center stage, jurors weigh Chauvin’s fate

By AMY FORLITI, STEPHEN GROVES and TAMMY WEBBER Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The jurors who sat quietly off-camera through three weeks of draining testimony in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in George Floyd’s death moved into the spotlight, still out of sight but now in control of verdicts awaited by a skittish city.

The jury of six white people and six people who are Black or multiracial resumed deliberations Tuesday morning. During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors argued that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd by pinning his knee against Floyd’s neck last May in Minneapolis, ignoring bystanders and common sense.

The defense argued that the now-fired white officer acted reasonably and that the 46-year-old Black man died of an underlying heart condition and illegal drug use.