On the final day of testimony of the Derek Chauvin trial, the former Minneapolis police officer chose to invoke his 5th amendment right to not testify in his case.
Professor Rick Petry from Mitchell Hamline School of Law spoke about the entirety of the trial with WCCO’s Adam Carter when the final day of testimony came to a close.
Petry was surprised that Chauvin refused to take the stand as his defense’s theories have continuously fallen apart.
“It seemed like that was his best chance of not being convicted,” Petry said.
Despite many expecting Chauvin to take the stand, the officer instead did not, thus bringing the last day of testimonies to a close.
Even without Chauvin taking the stand, there was a bit of drama as Judge Cahill threatened a mistrial.
The defense on Wednesday had brought in an expert to talk about the possibility of Geroge Floyd being exposed to carbon monoxide on the day of his death.
On Thursday, test results became available and the defense’s expert had already left the state. Cahill said that there would be no talk of results that the jury had not seen and if they did then he would have no choice but to declare a mistrial.
Despite this threat, Petry was never really concerned that a mistrial would be declared except for one slip up that an expert almost made mentioning the topic.
With all the testimonies being made, the jury now only awaits closing testimonies before being left to deliberate.
Petry believes that the decision from the jury will be made soon based on what has been brought against Chauvin. One thing that has stood out included officers testifying against Chauvin. The most prominent officer being Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo.
While the trial seems like it may be far from over, being that closing arguments must still take place and the jury will need time to decide Chauvin’s fate, there is an end in sight.
“It’s still too early to say,” Petry said. “If we are at 5 o’clock or 4 o’clock next Friday and there is no verdict and then we go to Monday or Tuesday and there's still no verdict, I think ‘Uh oh we have someone who is holding out'...but I just think it doesn't look so good for Mr. Chauvin right now.”
Whether or not Chauvin is convicted will also impact the trials for the other three officers who were present when Floyd lost his life last May.
“Well it definitely has an impact,” Petry said.
Whether or not Chauvin is convicted will play out how the others are charged with aiding and abetting in Floyd’s murder.
“If he is convicted then their situation becomes a bit more dier because it’s already been established that the thing they are accused of aiding and abetting happened and the person was convicted of it,” Petry said.
Petry would not be surprised if the two younger officers were already in talks of a plea agreement and could even see it resulting in them testifying against the other officer in exchange for a lesser sentence.
Closing arguments are scheduled to take place on Monday and after the arguments are made the jury will begin making their decision.