jerry blackwell was the first lawyer to speak in the trial. delivering the prosecutions opening statement. >> you will learn, that on may 25th of 2020, make your derek chauvin betrayed his badge. when he used excessive and unreasonable force. you will that he put his knees up on his neck and his back. grinding in crushing him, until the very breath, until the very life was squeezed thought of him. you will learn that he was well aware that mr. floyd was unarmed. that mr. floyd had not threatened anyone. that mr. floyd was in handcuffs. he was completely in the control of the police. he was defenseless. you will learn what happened, in that nine minutes and 29 seconds. the most important numbers you will hear in this trial, 9 2 9. what happened in those nine minutes 29 seconds. when mr. derek chauvin was applying this excessive force to the body of mr. george floyd. >> and after having proved all of that, 21 days later, steve schleicher delivered his final argument to the jury. this case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first. when y

jerry blackwell and steve schleischer. i have never seen a prosecution case presented so flawlessly in the courtroom. and none of that happened to the prosecution in this case. >> they conducted the most masterful prosecution i have ever seen. they did it with the whole world watching. jerry blackwell was the first lawyer to speak in the trial delivering the prosecution's opening statement. >> you will learn that on may 25th, 2020, mr. derek chauvin betrayed his badge. when used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of mr. george floyd. that he put his knee on his back, grinding and crushing him until the very breath, no, ladies and gentlemen, until the very life were squeezed out of him. you will learn that he was well aware that mr. floyd was unarmed and mr. floyd have not threatened anyone and mr. floyd was in handcuffs and he was completely in control of police and he was defenseless. you will learn what happened in that 9 minutes and 29 seconds. the most important numbers that you will hear in this trial, 9:2

i'm jerry blackwell at my comments are going _ jerry blackwell at my comments are going to _ jerry blackwell you see standing here in admitting more than you don't— standing here in admitting more than you don't know what c. where the willingness, courage, passion the intentionalfortitude willingness, courage, passion the intentional fortitude to get into good _ intentional fortitude to get into good trouble. they stepped into the li-ht good trouble. they stepped into the light and _ good trouble. they stepped into the light and they shined. after that i say thank— light and they shined. after that i say thank you, i am grateful for them, — say thank you, i am grateful for them, i'm — say thank you, i am grateful for them, i'm gratefulforthe them, i'm grateful for the opportunity them, i'm gratefulforthe opportunity that i've to serve. no verdict _ opportunity that i've to serve. no verdict can— opportunity that i've to serve. no verdict can bring george perry floyd back to _ verdict can bring george perry floyd back to us — verdict can bring george perry floyd back to us. but this verdict d

child the century, you are right, as jerry blackwell -- trial of the century, you are right, as jerry blackwell said, know what you saw. you know in your heart waht's hat's right. -- the president knew that this can very quickly spread through the country because the expectations of these changes, i know there are governors and other states, this is not just minnesota's problem. we need to own our problem and we need to fix it but it is america's problem in the president knows that. --and the president knows that. >> in terms of burning political capital, is that mean possibly pulling up budget and negotiation's to insist on including these changes? >> i will not go into hypotheticals. i will say, i want to give people the benefit of the doubt on this, it is not going to be easy to avoid this question this time. it is not going to be easy to walk away without doing some changes. we need to make sure that what we do does not punish minnesotans or make it worse, but if that change that minnesotans are demanding is being held up by a few individuals, we will figure out how to make change

jerry blackwell, i'm going to start with you.d the two of you had never met before this trial. you had not tried a criminal case before. you both did this work pro-bono. why was it important to you to take on this case? >> yeah, i think i've described it as my own moral moment, a moment when you see something that so pierces your consciousness, your sense of right, your sense of justice, that you feel compelled to stand up to offer whatever resources you have within yourself, all of your abilities, to try to right this wrong. and for me, it was that kind of moral moment, and i thought, at the time, that, if the opportunity presents, i will do an offer, whatever i have, for the cause of justice with respect to what i had just seen, and it was just happenstance that, within a week or two of thinking that, i did get a call from the attorney general asking if i would be a special prosecutor in this matter. i thought i would be behind the scenes, given that i had never handled a criminal case. i might help them with the strategies and

raised their voices on may 25, 2020, were a bouquet of humanity, a phrase i stole from my friend jerry blackwell, a bouquet of humanity -- old, young, men and women, black and white, a man from the neighborhood just walking to get a drink, a child going to buy a snack with her cousin, an off-duty firefighter on her way to a community garden -- brave young women, teenagers, who pressed record on their cell phones. why did they stop? they didn't know george floyd. they didn't know he had beautiful family. they didn't know he had been a great athlete, and they didn't know that he was a proud father or that he had people in his life who loved him. they stopped and raised their voices and they even challenged authority because they saw his humanity. they stopped and they raised their voices because they knew that what they were seeing was wrong. they didn't need to be medical professionals or experts in the use of force -- they knew it was wrong, and they were right. these community members, this bouquet of humanity, did it again in this trial. they performed simple yet profound acts of courage. they

and steve schleicher , jerry blackwell, i will start with you.e two of you had never met before this trial. you would not tried criminal case before. you both to this work pro bono. why was it important to you to take on this case? >> i think i described it as my own moral moment. something that so pierces your consciousness, your sense of right and justice, that you feel compelled to stand up and offer whatever resources you have within yourself, all of your abilities, to try to right this wrong. for me, it was that kind of moment. i thght at the time that if the opportunity presents, i will do whatever i can for the cause of justice. it was happenstance that within a week or two of thinking th, i got a call from the attorney general asking if i would be a special prosecutor in this matter. i thought i would be behind the scenes, given that i have never handled a criminal case. that is not how it progressed. the result was what you saw. it was me presenting on tv, trying the case. >> steve, i want to direct us to you. the wall street journal's r

that death by police hit this city following the break on rebuttal prosecutor jerry blackwell last outdefense characterizations of george floyd's death. >> death. he argued was at the hands of officers using unreasonable and in chauvin's case and unauthorized use of force. you were told. >> for example. that mister floyd died. that mister floyd died because his heart was to be you heard that testimony. and now having seen all the evidence haven't heard all the evidence, you know, the truth. and the truth of the matter is. that the reason george floyd is dead. it's because mister chauvin's heart was too small. >> prosecutor jerry blackwell charging the jury with taking a 46th witness with them into the deliberation room. number. 45 witnesses that came before them during the trial. the 46 witness. he identified as common sets. again, they'll be here this morning to begin a full day of deliberations and just a couple of hours live in downtown minneapolis. craig treadway back to you. thank you for that report. great. >> back here at home. we have to get another check of weather with john t

that rebuttal will come from jerry blackwell.minneapolis area as johnnie cochran of the midwest, how he was initially described. the black attorney you have seen a lot of during the trial. it is important for the prosecution blackwell be the last voice they hear before they start their deliberations. they will get some jury instructions, although they've been given some and some have been decided upon in a closed-door hearing last week. we're told by legal experts here in hen amin county the judge could provide some of those before the closing and a few more instructions before they start their deliberations. the expectation here, steph, they will get this case in the early afternoon hours. i spent some time last hour talking to a legal expert here in hennepin county who said she does not expect this is going to be one of those cases that jurors are deliberating over for days or weeks. there's an expectation on the ground of legal experts this will be a matter of days. >> and you're on the ground, craig. you've been there before.

jerry blackwell and steve schleicher presented the case. >> jerry blackwell: i saw a kind of empathyould feel what the witnesses felt. they could feel the anguish, they could feel the pain, theyar >> pelley: the dozen jurors remain anonymous. socially distanced from one another, they were never seen on camera. >> steve schleicher: they were bright, and they were taking their responsibilities very seriously. and you could see that throughout the entire trial. they would lean forward, engaged. >> blackwell: taking notes, lots of notes. >> schleicher: furious, yeah, furiously taking notes. >> pelley: several jurors had advanced degrees; one was a registered nurse. >> blackwell: they were overwhelmingly under the age of 40, which was unique. >> pelley: half were white, half people of color. >> ellison: two, what i would call traditional african americans. you know, people like me. there were two african immigrants. there were two folks who were mixed race, who had, i think, an african-descendant parent and a white parent. and then, the white jurors were very diverse, too. g clknow, so ot

jerry blackwell: tell us your opinion or opinions. dr. rich: sure. in this case mr.oyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest. it was caused by low oxygen levels and those low oxygen levels were induced by prone restraint and positional asphyxiation that he was subjected to. fred: after reviewing george floyd's medical records, video from the arrest, and the autopsy report, dr. rich put the defense's argument -- that pre-existing health conditions or drug use led to floyd's death -- to the test. dr. rich: i can state with a high degree of medical certainty that george floyd did not die from a primary cardiac event and he did not die from a drug overdose. jerry blackwell: do you have an opinion to a reasonable degree of certainty as to whether mr. floyd's death was preventable? dr. rich: yes, i believe that mr. george floyd's death was absolutely preventable. fred: and for the first time, the prosecution called a member of the floyd family to the stand. philonise floyd: in may 24, i got married and my brother was killed may 25. fred: philonise floyd, tenderly recalled growi

matt frank, jerry blackwell, steve flesher and erin eldridge were exceptional. they left the jury no alternative but to find mr. chauvin guilty. we and the people of minnesota should rightly be proud of these four and your entire staff of volunteers and assistant attorneys general and the jobs they did over the last seven weeks. i'm also proud from the moment that the hennepin county attorney's office charged derek chauvin with murder and manslaughter four days after george floyd's murder, our team worked long hours side by side with the attorney general's team. managing attorney general did legal analysis and writing. joshua larson did witness prep and strategy development. and vernona boswell, manager of our victim services division has been in direct contact for nearly a year now with the family of george floyd. victim and witness advocates jessica emerman and keith johnson managed all the witnesses, civilian and professional. my two deputies lolita and andy lefever and i supplied strategic advice and ordinarcoordination talented team 24/7. these guilty verdi

. >> and professor murray, i think we can detect a pattern here where a lead prosecutor jerry blackwell who's especially hired just for this case seems to be the one that gets up to handle the most important moments of the trial. if professor blackwell is on his feet, pay attention, this is a very important moment. he delivered the opening statement for the prosecution and he has stepped in on days like today for this kind of crucial testimony. >> that's exactly right. a trial is nothing more than a choreograph story-telling sessions between the lawyers and the jury. the jury knows that the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction here. again, they're doing a master full job of being consistent on that message to the jury. >> and another thing we heard from dr. tobin today was what does not show in the autopsy report and that could be an important as what's in an autopsy report. he made the point that there actually is not a way of seeing the loss of oxygen in an autopsy report. that does not leave a fingerprint. >> let's listen to the way he said tha

i believe it will be jerry blackwell. he did the opening in this case, and i felt he did a great job on that. he seems to be the person that wants these big occasions in this trial, so i believe it will be jerry blackwell. what i expect from him is him to come out hard to disprove all of the different causes of death that the defense has thrown out there, such as the drugs, the crowd, the adrenaline, the excited delirium, the pre-existing medical conditions. i think that's what you're going to see from him, spending a lot of time showing it was not that and that george floyd died as a result of derek chauvin's knee on his neck. >> what are you expecting from the defense? >> from the defense, i'm expecting the exact opposite. i think it's important to remember the defense doesn't have to prove anything. all they have to do is poke holes and try to get some doubt from the jury that perhaps something else caused the death of george floyd besides the knee on the neck, beside's derek chauvin's knee on his neck. from the defens

raised their voices on may 25, 2020 were a bouquet of humanity, a phrase i stole from my friend jerry blackwell. a bouquet of humanity. old, young, men, and women. black-and-white. -- black and white. a man from the neighborhood walking to get a drink. a child going to buy a snack with their cousin. an off-duty firefighter on their way to a community garden. brave young women, teenagers who press record on their cell phones. why did they stop? they did not know george floyd. they didn't know he had a beautiful family. they didn't know he had been a great athlete. they didn't know he was a proud father or he had people in his life who loved him. they stopped and raised their voices, and they even challenged authority because they saw his humanity. they stopped and they raised their voices because they knew what they were seeing was wrong. they didn't need to be medical professionals or experts in the use of force. they knew it was wrong. they were right. these community members, this bouquet of humanity, did it again in this trial. they performed simple yet profound acts of courage. they told th

i give the prosecutor jerry blackwell credit here because he's quiet but taking this witness apart. he started -- this is when we were covering the president. he got the expert witness to admit he had not calculated in the weight of derek chauvin's police equipment. we know that's 30 or 40 pounds. that means either this witness is sloppy or biased and trying to generate a certain result. he also -- it looks like the judge is talking. >> dr. fowler, i was simply trying to get a clearance, if you can give us one. do you have a specific recollection of actually looking at physiology journals on the question of the relationship between the hypopharynx and the ability to breathe? >> i specifically did a search which includes human physiology journals and nothing came up on my search. so, therefore, i did not read any physiology journals on this because nothing came up in the search. >> so, dr. fowler, did you equate quantitatively and include in your report what mr. floyd's elev was while he was sitting on the sidewalk before the subdual and restraint began on the ground? >> no, i don't

it's because mister chauvin's heart was too small. >> prosecutor, jerry blackwell. they're closing it out for the jurors again. a ton of evidence and testimony for them to sift today. last night. they probably spent the night just kind of getting accustomed to one another. but today, of course we expect that they'll enter a full day of deliberations before a verdict is reached. who knows if will come today or later in the week. no one really knows. for now. we are live in downtown minneapolis. james and area. we'll send it back to you. all right. we'll just have to wait and see. thank you. correct the judge in the trial is saying the comments made by california congresswoman maxine waters. >> could be grounds for an appeal. the judge rejected the defense's request for a mistrial based on what she said saturday night. and a protest in minneapolis. but he said it could have an effect later, maxine waters called for protesters to, quote, get more confrontational if children was not found guilty for floyd's killing the judge called those comments abhorrent and disrespec

it's because mister chauvin's heart was too small. >> prosecutor jerry blackwell try to close it for the jury yesterday at the end of his rebuttal at this again, we are still on the lookout the jurors. we know that they are scheduled for a full day of deliberations today. of course, will keep you posted if anything changes. we're live in downtown minneapolis. i'm craig treadway. let's send it back to you in the studio, right. greg, thank you very much. and like we said, we'll keep you posted here on the kron 4 morning news, but also we have our kron on app. >> and that's news 24 7 streaming and we will carry the verdict live on kron on whenever it happens. 8.11 right now. and still ahead, teenagers picked the wrong guy that tried to carjack. we'll show you where in the bay area, the. >> a carjacker with the gun got body slammed. >> and we are starting the day with some cloud cover. what we're going to see less and less of that through the day. still going to be a cool afternoon, though temperatures will already be cooler. yeah. and some winds on top of that. and yeah, you'll need the

after 40 minutes of dismantling almost three-hour closing statement by the defense, prosecutor jerry blackwell ended his rebuttal with this. >> here is what i thought the largest departure was from the evidence. i will show it to you. you were told, for example, that mr. floyd died, that mr. floyd died because his heart was too big. you heard that testimony. and now having seen all the evidence, having heard all the evidence, you know the truth. and the truth of the matter is that the reason george floyd is dead as because mr. chauvin's heart was too small. >> leading off our discussion tonight, kirk burkhalter, criminal law professor at new york law school where he's the director of the 21st century police project and mark claxton the director of the black law enforcement alliance. both are former nypd police detectives. professor burke alter begins with an expert on trial tactics and your reaction to what we saw on the closing's today. >> so, lawrence, i made a little grading sheet and i gave the prosecution an a or a minus. just trying to be objective that's why i went down to an a minus. t

jerry blackwell is a fine attorney. i mean fine in a very, very commendable sense.s going have to keep this witness on the shortest, tightest leash possible. the judge has been very clear he will declare a mistrial because any hint, any suggestion or mention of these that the hennepin county data will be preside prejudicial to a defendant that gave notice about a theory of carbon monoxide poisoning and they didn't have the data in time to fully flush it out or to recoil on their own theory. and so mr. blackwell is already seeing what happens with witnesses. witnesses like jurors are wild cards. i don't care if you are the most seasoned expert testifying witness, sometimes they do not understand the implications of their slipups. i'm just being responsive. they may have a window that opens up to an appellate review. defense attorneys are always on guard with this very point, kaut. the kate. they want to have their ducks in a row of how they can seek an appeal to overturn based on prosecutoral misconduct or any allegations based on. that appellate courts have no toler

they very much want the jury to hear from jerry blackwell last. that will be last voice you will hear from in the rebuttal. the defense is expected to go after an hour and a half and we'll get a 20-minute break and mr. blackwell is a prominent african-american attorney described as the midwestern version of johnnie cochran. more of the more interesting things, andrea, that continues to jump out, to me, at least. the death of george floyd sparks this global movement, this racial reckoning. you did not hear or see this morning a reference to race. i'm told you won't see that this afternoon, as well when jerry blackwell does his rebuttal, but in addition, those two things that we just talked about. the 9:29, reminding jurors over and over of the sheer amount of time that officer chauvin had his knee and his full body weight on george floyd's neck. it really was, the first 45 minutes of that closing, the first 45 basically humanizing george floyd, acknowledging the addiction and talking about his past and how he wound up there that day and then in abou

that death by police hit this city following the break on rebuttal prosecutor jerry blackwell last out of the defense characterizations of george floyd's death. >> death. he argued was at the hands of officers using unreasonable and in chauvin's case and unauthorized use of force. you were told. >> for example. that mister floyd died. that mister floyd died because his heart was to be. and now having seen all the evidence haven't heard all the evidence, you know, the truth. and the truth of the matter is. the reason george floyd is dead. it's because mister chauvin's heart was too small. >> jerry blackwell the prosecutor charging the jury participating or considering the 46th witness. another 45 witnesses that testify during the trial the 46 witness, he wants them to take into the deliberation room with them. the 46 witness. he identifies as common sense. we're live in downtown minneapolis. craig treadway, james darya. we'll send it back to you. and we'll see how long deliberations take. thank you very much, craig. and we'll see what happens after there's a ruling because. >> some trus

. >> reporter: prosecutor jerry blackwell. >> now, no verdict can bring george perry floyd back to usbut this verdict does give a message to his family that he mo that his life mattered. >> reporter: thousands of people were here in downtown minneapolis, cheering when that guilty verdict was read. some of the people that we spoke with say that now they hope a better conversation can come about how to better improve the relationship between law enforcement and the community. >> guilty! >> this is a start. definitely, i just thank god and minnesota for the truth. >> reporter: president biden spoke with the floyd family. >> i wish i was there around you. >> reporter: and the nation that change is on the way. >> to the family's pain, they're finding purpose, so george's legacy will not just be about his death, but a w we iismory. >> reporter: the judge is expected to sentencetrial the officers charged in floyd's death is expected in august. they are charged with aiding and abetting murder. anne-marie. >> so, skyler, we saw in the piece, the crowd that had gathered outside of the courthous

i know it's central to the newly introduced evidence that jerry blackwell would like introduced?solutely not. i think david alluded to this earlier. i think blackwell did a phenomenal job cross examining dr. fowler on this point. he didn't know if the car was running. there was no testing to see whether or not carbon monoxide was in mr. floyd's blood. more importantly, it was chauvin who placed mr. floyd there such that if there was any oxygen jeppry vacation that would have resulted from such exhaust, it would certainly look like that was a contributing factor put in place by claump. >> mr. blackwell calling it, in his line of his cross examination of dr. fowler yesterday. shaq, let me go to you on next steps here. the pre-trial motions, it's technical. we want to make sure what is happening next. the jury, it's important for people to know. the jury is not not room? they're going to come in later once these pre-trial motions are over. a in that case, the defense will rest in front of the jury. >> that's exactly right. we should score derek chauvin will not have the looming ques

matt frank jerry blackwell steve fleischer and aaron eldridge were exceptional their use of experts evidence and witnesses left the jury no alternative but to find mr shaaban guilty we and the people of minnesota should rightly be proud of these 4 and your entire staff all volunteer is an assistant attorney generals and the jobs they did over the last 7 weeks. i'm also proud from the moment that the end of the county attorney's office charged kerrick chauvin with murder and manslaughter 4 days after george floyd's murder our team worked long hours side by side with the attorney general's team managing attorney gene byrd our good legal analysis and writing assistant head of the county attorney joshua larson did witness prep and strategy development and burden on a boswell manager of our victim services division has been new direct contact for nearly a year now with the family of george floyd victim and witness advocates jessica emerson and keith johnson manage all the witnesses person civil civilian and professional my 2 deputies will lead a yo up in and even a fever and i supplied strategic

that verdict and just before the judge issued his their actions that to the jury we heard from jerry blackwell who was making the last 3 bucks all to the defense's closing statement. effectively telling jurors to use their common sense. riginal you heard of and in. the trial people commented on how we were implications that we were. that we were. was one example that we were creating hollowing stories was another example that these were stories and that was repeated comment. still that we misrepresented facts and put words into dr baker's mouth that we made several statements that they put forth a stories after the court instructed him to use the stop using were stories he clarified and it's just fabricated facts and so there were multiple references to the. that we were shading the truth i mean again so multiple objections this is sensually governed by our state versus mcdaniel in the final argument to the jury a prosecutor is governed by a unique set of rules which differ significantly from laws governing council and several suits and even those governing defense counsel and the very same cr

mack frank, jerry blackwell, aaron eldridge were exceptional. their use of experts evidence and witnesses left the jury no alternative but to find mr. chauvin guilty. we end the people of minnesota should rightly be proud of these four and your entire sample of volunteers that assist the attorney general's end of the job they did over the last seven weeks. i am also proud, from the moment that the hennepin county attorney's office charged derek chauvin with murder and manslaughter for days after george floyd's murder, our team worked long hours, side-by-side with the attorney general steam. managing attorney did legal analysis and writing, assistant hennepin county attorney joshua larson did witness prep and strategy development, and vern nona boswell has been in direct contact for nearly a year now with the family of george floyd. victim and witness advocates manage all the witnesses, civilian and professional. my two deputies supplied strategic advice and coordination to this talented team 24/7. these guilty verdicts cannot be the end of the c

. >> but prosecutor jerry blackwell, in a scathing rebuttal -- >> you were told, for example, that mr. floyd died because his heart was too big. and the truth of the matter is the reason george floyd is dead is because mr. chauvin's heart was too small. >> reporter: during closing arguments in court today, it was the first time for a prolonged amount of time that the jury got to see derek chauvin without his mask. there was sort of an audible gasp when he took his mask off and all the jurors did look at him. chauvin face at least charges for the death of george floyd, second degree unintentional murder with the maximum 40-year prison sentence. third-degree murder, 25 years maximum, and second degree manslaughter, ten years maximum. judge peter cahill giving very specific instructions. >> during your deliberations, you must not let bias, prejudice, passion, sympathy, or public opinion influence your decision. >> i would be stunned if there was an all-out acquittal. i would just be shocked if 12 jurors were unanimously deciding that there was reasonable doubt in this case. >> reporter:

my name is jerry blackwell and i apologize for talking through this plexiglass but it's what the pandemic has given us. if you want to learn in this case a lot about what it means to be a public servant and to have the honor of wearing this badge it is small and carries with it a large responsibility and large accountability to the public. what does it stand for? it represents the motto of the minneapolis police department to protect, serve with compassion but also represents the essence of the minneapolis police department approach to the use of force against citizens when appropriate. the sanctity of life and the protection of the public shall be the cornerstones of the minneapolis police department's use of force. compassion, sanctity of life, cornerstones they take an oath i will enforce the law courteously and appropriately and as you will learn as it applies to this case, never employing a necessary force for violence. and not only that, but i recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith and accepted as a public trust to be held so long as i am true to the ethics of

. >> reporter: prosecutor jerry blackwell carefully asked his questions trying to point out the low level of carbon monoxide in floyd's blood. >> do you have an opinion as to a reasonable degree of medical certainty whether mr. floyd'so a reasonable degree carbon dioxide content could have increased by 10%, is that reliable. >> no, i don't believe that is reliable. >> reporter: closing arguments start monday. once the jury will be sequestered when they get the case. the judge told them plan for long, hope for short. >> o'donnell: jamie yuccas, thank you. shock and sadness in chicago after the city today released body cam video of an officer shooting and calling a 13-year- shooting and killing a 13-year- old boy. we want to warn you: this video is disturbing. the mayor and boy's family are asking the family to express aneidiaz. >> reporter: the chase lasted 20 seconds before an officer opened fire. >> show me your hands, drop it, drop it! >> reporter: a single shot struck the chest of 13-year-old adam toledo. police say he had a gun in his hand. the officer tried to revive him but the boy

. >> reporter: during rebuttal, prosecutor jerry blackwell talked about the 46th witness: common sense. >> you were told that mr. floyd died because his heart was too big. the reason george floyd is dead is because mr. chauvin's heart was too small. >> o'donnell: and jamie joins us now. and jamie, something extraordinary happened after the jury left to deliberate the judge lashing out at a congresswoman saying the verdict could be overturned in the future. explain what happened. >> reporter: it was something. california democrat maxine waters was with protesters in brooklyn center this weekend and she said i hope we get a verk that's guilty, guilty, guilty, if we don't, guilty, guilty. if we don't we have to get more confrontational. the judge called that disrespectful to the rule of law and in a surprising move told the defense the comments could could open everything to appeal and have the whole trial overturned. norah. >> o'donnell: stunning. jamie yuccas, thank you. outside the courthouse. much of minneapolis is minneapolis is unrecognizable tonight with fences plywooded and a stro

. >> reporter: prosecutors jerry blackwell also attacked fowler's testimony about derek chauvin's weighto you didn't factor in the weight that his equipment that was also on the body of mr. floyd, is that true?d, is that ? >> that is true.rue. >> reporter: and his citing of studies about prone restraints. >> none of the studies went for as long as nine minutes and 29 seconds. >> that is true. >> reporter: fowler is currently the subject of a civil lasuit in maryland brought by a family who claims he helped cover up their son's death. he died under similar circumstances. >> o'donnell: and jamie yuccas joins us now. and you were one of the reporters allowed inside the courtroom today. we don't get to see the jury, but you did. what did you glean from that? >> reporter: i can tell you, norah, the jury is clearly c engaged and taking their roles seriously. but by the end of the session, it was obvious that the trial is really taking its toll.ally tak. they really looked exhausted. >> o'donnell: all right, jamie yuccas, thank you. well, tonight, president biden is defending his decision to wi

one another of the prosecutors as jerry blackwell says he hopes the verdict has a positive effect. no verdict can bring george perry floyd back to us. but this verdict does give a message to his family that he was somebody that his life matters that all of our lives matter and that's important. and i also hope that this verdict for all of the rest of collective all of us. well help us further along the road toward a better humanity well let's cross to cross one of the she ever turns he's standing by in minneapolis so she had after 3 weeks of testimony dozens of witnesses the verdict in the end came fast and clear guilty on all counts. and we had about video all along 9 and a half minutes 9 minutes 29 seconds showing what appeared clear to most who saw it that this was some inhumane behavior and yet throughout the day throughout the last few weeks we've had. disbelief that even when the evidence seems incontrovertibly is this that in the words of the prosecution the jury would believe their eyes believe what they were saying because so often in the past even when there is video evid

derek chauvin in the death of your choice, go back to march 29 for the opening statements with jerry blackwell, minnesota special assistant attorney

the lead prosecutor, jerry blackwell, told the jury mr chauvin had continued to compress mr floyd's neck chauvin had correctly followed police training. security has been ramped up around the court building in minneapolis, with barbed wire and armed soldiers. thejury the jury has retired to consider its verdict. full coverage here on bbc news. from me and the team, bye—bye. hello there. april showers have been in short supply. it's been a very dry month so far. and for most places, tuesday will be another dry day with some sunny spells. but across the north of the uk, we can expect some patchy rain, courtesy of a weather front — you can see it here on the chart — drifting in from the northwest, moving slowly southeastwards through the day and weakening all the while. for much of england and wales, we're starting off the day dry with some spells of sunshine, although quite misty and murky for some of these eastern coasts. and through the day, i think we'll see a gradual build—up in cloud amounts. there may even bejust the odd rogue shower into the afternoon. for scotland and northern irel

raised their voices on may 25 2020 were a bouquet of humanity, a phrase i stole from my friend, jerry blackwell a bouquet of humanity, old, young, men and women, black and white, a man from the neighbourhood just walking to get a drink. a child going to buy snack with her cousin, an off—duty firefighter on her way to a community garden, brave young women, teenagers who press record on their cellphones. why did they stop? they didn't know george floyd. they didn't know we had a beautifulfamily. they didn't know he had been had been a great athlete or he was a proud father or had people in his life he loved him. they stopped and raised their voices and they even challenge their authority because they saw his humanity, they stopped and they raised their voices because they knew that what they were seeing was wrong. dr rayshawn ray is professor of sociology at the university of maryland. dr ray's research focusses on racial and social inequality with a particular focus on police—civilian relations and criminal justice reform. thank you for coming on the programme. thank you for having me as always.

arguing for the defense after that we expect to have a redirect by yet another prosecutor that is jerry blackwell but this was a pretty long in the thought of cold and powerful recitation of the prosecution's case. they obviously have the road sort of experiences understanding of how the cold system works within the respective countries in the united states. we saw it's not just pull testimony you might say it's given in these instances but visual aids as well how you've covered many trials similar to this all of the same sort of see how unusual did you find the proceedings yourself. i thought they did a pretty effective job of just using enough information in order to help the jury summarize in their favor you had. some visual age tape a certain point in order to show things like. grinding his on george floyd neck and and forgive me so hell if you're hearing soloing behind me that's because all the buildings around us are boarding up in anticipation of this verdict here but yeah they do use the visual aids but they use them in a limited enough form so that they they don't overwhelm the jury with

my name is jerry blackwell and i apologize for talking through this plexiglass but it's what the pandemic has given us. if you want to learn in this case a lot

among those who spoke for the state yesterday minnesota special assistant attorney general jerry blackwell. here's some of his remarks from yesterdays closing arguments. >> i'm going to start talking about what i call the 46 witness. you have heard from 45 witnesses understand but there is a 46 witness, this witness was testifying to you before you got her to the courtroom. they testified over everybody else's testament on the stand. it's the only witness that will be talking to you when you're back in the deliberation and that witness is common sense. common sense. we will continue talking with you all the while because while you have heard hours and hours and hours of discussions here in the closing, ultimately it really isn't that complicated and what it is you have to decide with respect to the excessive use of force and the issue of causation. a fact that is so simple that a child could understand. in fact, a child didn't understand when the nine-year-old girl said, get off of him. that's how simple it was. get off of him. common sense. why is it necessary to continue applying deadly

prosecutor jerry blackwell recalling the testimony of the 9-year-old girl who took the witness stand. >> the fact that is so simple that a child could understand it. in fact, a child did understand it, when the 9-year-old girl said, "get off of him." that's how simple it was. "get off of him." >> alex perez joins us now from minneapolis. and alex, the case is now in the jury's hands tonight. the judge ininstructing them not to let bias, prejudice, passion, sympathy or public opinion influence their decision and warning them not to consider what consequences their verdict might have. these jurors likely know, though, the country is watching. >> reporter: yeah, david. the judge very slowly and carefully explaining all of those instructions to the jury. beginning tonight, they will be sequestered during deliberations. they'll work each evening until about 7:30. they have been given laptops with all of that video and other evidence that they saw in court. david? >> alex perez leading us off from minneapolis. alex, thank you. i want to bring in dan abrams tonight, watching the proceedings

general has a called on people to continue the march towards equality while one of the prosecutors jerry blackwell says he hopes a verdict as they posed if in fact. no verdict can bring george perry floyd back to us. but this verdict does give a message to his family that he was somebody that his life matters that all of our lives matter and that's important. and i also hope that this verdict for all of the rest of collective all of us will help us further along the road toward a better humanity. speak to she ever tanzi who's in minneapolis has been following events that coulter let's. say she had the next big moments in this trial is sentencing in 2 months time. yeah i mean we also expect that to be an appeal logged by the defense on the grounds that because of all the media attention it was impossible for a jury to be impartial in this case it's not clear how strong that case will be but sentencing and in a couple of in a couple of months. that are also then the factors of whether this is their aggravated factors which could mean currently because it is a 1st time offender he would be on the low