Alternate juror in Chauvin trial agrees with outcome
MINNEAPOLIS — An alternate juror at the trial of Derek Chauvin said she agreed with the jury’s decision to convict him in George Floyd’s death, saying she saw Chauvin as the leader of officers at the scene and that he brushed off warnings by bystanders that Floyd was in danger.
“I felt he was guilty,” Lisa Christensen said on “CBS This Morning” in a story aired Thursday. “I didn’t know if it was going to be guilty on all counts, but I would have said guilty.”
Christensen was one of two alternates dismissed by Judge Peter Cahill after Monday’s closing arguments. The remaining 12 jurors voted unanimously Tuesday to convict Chauvin on all counts: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The identities of jurors and alternates are protected under the judge’s order, and Christensen is the first to publicly speak out.
Chauvin, 45, was by far the most senior officer at the scene. Prosecutors said he pinned Floyd to the pavement outside Cup Foods, where Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. Three other officers, since fired, face trial in August.
Christensen said she felt prosecutors “made a really good, strong argument” and credited Dr. Martin Tobin, one of their medical experts, for his testimony.
“Dr. Tobin was the one that really did it for me. He explained everything to me, I understood it, down to where he said, ‘This was the moment where he lost his life.’ Really got to me.”
