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Derek Chauvin's lawyer Eric Nelson tried everything he could to try and score a mistrial after the jury went away to deliberate on the case.
According to Nelson, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) saying that she thinks Chauvin is guilty is enough to lead to a mistrial. Waters said over the weekend when asked by a reporter that she hopes if Chauvin isn't guilty that activists will continue to fight for justice and stay in the streets.
The MAGA community has twisted Waters' words into being a direct invitation to attack the jury, which they weren't.
While Judge Peter Cahill confessed that he wished legislators would keep their mouths shut about judicial proceedings, he explained that multiple times, particularly in the final several days, he instructed the jury not to watch the news.
The claim that Waters's comments somehow justify a mistrial infuriated many who have been watching the trial.
See the frustration from viewers below:
Eric Nelson is now using Rep Maxine Waters saying that protesters should get “more active” & “more confrontational”… https://t.co/Jn5CHvfX5R— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche Alcindor)1618866530.0
If a statement from Maxine Waters can be used as justification to overturn a guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin on ap… https://t.co/pKNC9nIB8h— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin)1618867400.0
Soooooo...the judge is now passively-aggressively chastising Maxine Waters???— Asha Rangappa (@Asha Rangappa)1618866710.0
But, the idea that judges are going to chastise elected officials for being insufficiently civil is a kind of tone… https://t.co/rGXGy2yaHJ— Anthony Michael Kreis (@Anthony Michael Kreis)1618867200.0
The Judge is NOT happy with Rep. Maxine Waters.... but....."Motion to mistrial is denied."— Jonathan Capehart (@Jonathan Capehart)1618866678.0
What? Judge Cahill just said that Maxine Waters may have just given the defense something on appeal that could get… https://t.co/9Pw9zgWnvV— Ahmed Baba (@Ahmed Baba)1618866592.0
Okay, can’t believe this needs to be said, Congresswoman Maxine Waters didn’t murder George Floyd, Derek Chauvin did.— Ricky Davila (@Ricky Davila)1618867345.0
Listen carefully to Judge Cahill DENY the defense motion for prosecutorial misconduct based on Maxine Waters’ comme… https://t.co/7D7GVbEZ7H— Christine Pelosi (@Christine Pelosi)1618867589.0
.@clairecmc thank you for telling the TV audience that US House Rep. Maxine Waters did nothing wrong in her words r… https://t.co/lzYjef3aVd— BLACKSTEM Global💡🔬🌼 (@BLACKSTEM Global💡🔬🌼)1618868437.0
Like bro Derek Chauvin killed a man he swore to protect and they got the entire thing on video you really think Max… https://t.co/aHMHEqIkUt— Binayak Pandey (@Binayak Pandey)1618868478.0
@Logistix1 @atrupar Nice try but no she didn’t. Was Maxine waters in the courtroom? Was she on trial or called as a… https://t.co/mUq8erxDmN— America Prime (@America Prime)1618868466.0
Donald Trump can tell a white supremacist group a "stand by" message during a televised presidential debate, and th… https://t.co/vMCHVdUNSZ— mjoll (@mjoll)1618868475.0
@esserlaw Funny, no? The Defense team is the one that introduced Maxine Waters's comments.... again, laying the groundwork for appeal....— JeweledSkye (@JeweledSkye)1618868465.0
On Monday, just after closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin murder trial for the death of George Floyd, defense attorney Eric Nelson attempted a last-ditch request to throw out the case, because — according to him — the public comments by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that without a guilty verdict, "We've got to stay on the street, and we've got to get more active, we've got to get more confrontational" has prejudiced the jury.
"I just don't know how this jury can really be said to be that they are free from the taint of this, and now that we have U.S. representatives threatening acts of violence in relation to this specific case, it's — it's mind-boggling to me, Judge."
Judge Peter Cahill invited Nelson to make that argument on appeal if Chauvin is found guilty — but made perfectly clear he thought that argument didn't fly.
"I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case," said Cahill, but "I don't think it's prejudiced us with additional material that would prejudice this jury. They have been told not to watch the news. I trust they are following those instructions and that there is not in any way a prejudice beyond the articles that we're talking specifically about the facts of this case. A congresswoman's opinion really doesn't matter had a whole lot ... the motion for mistrial is denied."
Watch below:
Judge Peter Cahill rebuffs Derek Chauvin's motion for a mistrial because of Maxine Waters www.youtube.com
After a full day of closing arguments and the judge in the Derek Chauvin trial instructing the jury, defense attorney Eric Nelson falsely claimed U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), who he did not mention by name, had "threatened violence" if the jury does not convict.
"Now that we have U.S. Representatives threatening acts of violence in relation to this specific case, it's mind-boggling," Nelson told Judge Peter Cahill, asking for a mistrial.
"I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned," Judge Cahill replied, but he denied Nelson's request for a mistrial.
Jurors have spent weeks in the case of the now-former police officer who pressed his knee of George Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
After jurors were excused, Nelson, who was criticized by pundits during the trial and for a long and boring closing argument, registered other complaints with the judge.
"I felt this jury should have been sequestered from the very beginning," Nelson told the judge, repeatedly using the word "mistrial." He also claimed "prosecutorial misconduct."
Defense lawyers attempted to ask Judge Cahill for a mistrial in the case because of the state's language in its final closing arguments.
Judge Cahill denied the request. #GeorgeFloyd — Lauren Dawn Johnson (@LaurenDawnFox29) April 19, 2021
Judge Cahill to Chauvin defense attorney Eric Nelson: "I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned." pic.twitter.com/ZhlmmoKgC3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2021
Nelson told the judge the jury had not been instructed to stay away from news stories, the judge and the prosecutor disagreed, providing examples.
The judge scolded elected officials for discussing the trial, calling doing so "abhorrent."
Eric Nelson is now using Rep Maxine Waters saying that protesters should get “more active" & “more confrontational" if Derek Chauvin isn't convicted as a reason for a mistrial to be declared. He's claiming she threatened violence.
Fact check: Waters did not threaten violence. — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 19, 2021
"I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case," Judge Peter Cahill said. "Their failure to do so is abhorrent but ... a congresswoman's opinion really doesn't matter a lot. So, motion for mistrial denied."
"A congresswoman's opinion really doesn't matter a whole lot" -- Judge Cahill is not happy with Maxine Waters's comments about the Chavin trial, but doesn't grant a defense motion for a mistrial pic.twitter.com/BBkVwLcF0Q
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2021
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