What's the difference? George Floyd's nickname for his girlfriend was - wait for it - 'Momma.' He was calling for his girlfriend as he was also calling for another name (which escapes me right now). Who was the other name he was calling for? His drug dealer who refused to testify and the state refused to immunize because his testimony would have wholly undermined their entire case.
Obviously you are not an attorney.
If the only evidence the prosecution put on was the film and Chauvin didn’t take the stand to give the jury evidence of his state of mind during those nine minutes, then the jury would still have come back with the same verdict.
He was not convicted of intentional murder. He was convicted of having a disregard for the life of Floyd. The video was more than sufficient evidence to support that inference. Chauvin did nothing to refute that evidence. His case relied entirely on expert witness testimony about drugs and police procedure. The jury probably didn’t take any of that into consideration. They had the video. They watched as Chauvin publicly swore that he was not taking the stand “on the grounds that his testimony might incriminate him.”
Yeah, the jury was admonished to disregard the fact that he refused to take the stand, but they didn’t. They couldn’t. They never do.
Chauvin closed the door on involuntary manslaughter. The only verdict available after his refusal to take the stand and say it was an accident was murder.
Yes the jury was probably intimidated. But their verdict under the circumstances was not unreasonable. It will not be overturned.