Chauvin juror says most of trial was spent convincing only jury member uncertain of guilt

Brandon Mitchell, juror 52 in the trial of Derek Chauvin, has said that the jury deliberated for four hours as one juror was holding out and needed to be convinced of the former officer’s guilt.

“It was just dark. It felt like every day was a funeral and watching someone die every day,” Mr Mitchell told CNN, adding that the jury was shown the video of George Floyd’s death five to six times a day during the three-week trial.

“I felt like it should have been 20 minutes,” Mr Mitchell said about the four-hour deliberation. He said only one juror, whom he didn’t identify, was not certain that Chauvin was guilty.

The jury eventually found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder. He faces up to 40 years in prison.

“The deliberation room was straight forward. There [were] a few hiccups with terminology… there wasn’t too much back and forth,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America.

He said that one juror wanted further clarifications to understand the terminology in relation to the charges.

He said: “We deliberated for four hours. We were going over the terminology so we understood exactly what was being asked.

“The one juror that was, I wouldn’t say slowing us down, was being delicate with the process more so… hung up on a few words.”

Mr Mitchell, a 31-year-old basketball coach, told CNN: “It was tense every day. I wasn’t nervous, but it was stressful. It was a lot of pressure.”

He added that every member of the jury agreed when they decided on the verdict. The jury was made up of six white individuals, four black persons, and two multiracial people.