The ax has fallen.
Derek Chauvin was convicted of the "murder" of George Floyd.
The verdict was announced Tuesday afternoon, April 20 (local time) in court in Minneapolis.
The jury had withdrawn the day before in camera after hearing the final arguments of the prosecution and the defense.
The deliberations lasted ten and a half hours over two days.
Already dismissed from the police, the 45-year-old agent, mask on his face, did not show any particular emotion when the verdict was announced.
Read also: Death of George Floyd: Derek Chauvin's lawyer asks for an acquittal
However, the joy was at the rendezvous for many Americans and especially in Hollywood.
Viola Davis, nominated at the Oscars in the category "best actress" for her role in
The Blues of Ma Rainey
, slit with a thunderous
"GUILTY !!!!"
, accompanied by a pastel portrait of George Floyd, on Twitter.
To read also: Viola Davis, Vanessa Kirby, Carey Mulligan… The actresses in the running for the Oscars 2021
Kerry Washington, for her part, insisted that
“the fight for justice is not over”
.
“We have a lot of work to do.
There are still a lot of fights ahead of us, ”
the
Scandal
star
on Twitter said.
Chris Evans and Mariah Carey were more low-key in their interventions, the former addressing
"love to the family and friends of George Floyd"
, the latter hailing
"a start ... a little grain of hope for our future."
Whoopi Goldberg, she was more sullen.
If the verdict makes her react, it is especially to underline the character, according to her, vain of this condemnation.
"Guilty Guilty Guilty… Nobody wins… George Floyd is always gone… and ultimately someone was responsible… Derek Chauvin."
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Ghost
The penalty known in two months
The 12 jurors - seven women and five men - of various ethnic origins found Derek Chauvin guilty of the three counts for which he was appearing.
The handcuffed policeman was immediately taken into custody.
The 45-year-old police officer was on trial for murder, manslaughter and intentional violence resulting in the death of George Floyd, whom he had arrested with three other officers for a minor offense on May 25, 2020. Derek Chauvin appeared free. Judge Peter Cahill will hand down sentence at a new hearing scheduled in eight weeks. Derek Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison but his sentence could be increased if the magistrate concludes that there are aggravating circumstances. His lawyers now have 60 days to appeal, and they are very likely to do so, even if their client's chances are slim. Derek Chauvin's three former colleagues - Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - are to be tried in August for
"complicity in murder"
.
The agony of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 below Derek Chauvin's knee, filmed by passers-by, shocked the world and sparked protests of historic proportions against racism and police violence. "
This case is exactly what you initially thought, watching this video,"
prosecutor Steve Schleicher said in his indictment on Monday.
"It was murder, the accused is guilty of all three counts and there is no excuse,"
he said. The prosecution, which had brought several witnesses from the police to the stand, had stressed that this trial was not that of the institution, but of an individual who
"betrayed"
his police oath.
