Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz went on with Rob Schmitt on Tuesday night following the guilty verdicts in the Derek Chauvin case.
Rob Schmitt: A lot of the rhetoric around this case, the media coverage on this case, and also the violence all last summer did that have an impact on this case?
Alan Dershowitz: We certainly can’t be confident that it didn’t. We have to assume that the jury heard what Maxine Waters said, what Sharpton said, what Crump said, what others said. I think jurors knew that if they came out with a verdict, other than murder, the top charge there would be violence on the streets. Every mayor was prepared for that. Every police chief was prepared for that. Why do we think the jury didn’t know that and didn’t allow it to enter its consideration? After all, the jurors were potential targets. Their names were released. If they had come to “the wrong verdict” they might be expected to be treated the way one of the witnesses was treated… painted in blood. I think the jurors learned that if they didn’t come up with the right verdict there businesses would suffer, their schools, their neighborhoods… That’s why I believe the case may very well be reversed.
Via Rob Schmitt Tonight:
