How the trial over Floyd’s death flipped the script for Black victims

By: TIM ARANGO, JOHN ELIGON, and SHALIA DEWAN

… For generations, the American criminal justice system has operated by an old playbook in cases of police violence. The backgrounds of victims are placed under a microscope. Prosecutors deciding whether to bring charges against officers parse every misstep from victims’ past, as do defense lawyers in the rare instances that officers are charged.

The Chauvin trial flipped the script. Mr. Floyd, who had moved to Minneapolis for a fresh start, became a three-dimensional character. Mr. Chauvin, who declined to take the stand, remained an aloof figure, shown on video kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes with such sang-froid that his sunglasses never lost their perch atop his head. He likely faces between 12.5 and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced in June.

In cases where officers are charged, what the jury hears about the victim can sway the outcome, said Jared Fishman, a former federal prosecutor and JIL Executive Director.

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