Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged in George Floyd’s death, was on Tuesday found guilty of all three charges.
Chauvin had been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, all of which required the jury to conclude that his actions were a “substantial causal factor” in Floyd’s death and that his use of force was unreasonable.
46-year-old Floyd died on May 25 of last year during an arrest operation in Minneapolis, after he attempted to pass off a counterfeit bill.
After footage recorded on a cell phone of part of the arrest showed an officer pinning Floyd down with a knee to the back of the neck, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder. The charges were later amended to second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s knee remained on Floyd’s neck for about nine and a half minutes, even after Floyd became unresponsive.
Three other officers present during the arrest - Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao – were later arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
The jury, made up of six white people and six Black or multiracial people, weighed charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with convictions on some, none or all of the charges possible.
The most serious charge carries up to 40 years in prison.
An autopsy performed by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, the results of which were released in early June, concluded that Floyd’s death was likely the result of homicide, concluding that Floyd had died as a result of police force during his arrest, while noting the additional influence of fentanyl intoxication and heart disease.