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April 20, 2021                                                                                                             Jon Koriel

                                                                                                                                   (714) 686-4097

                                                                                                                                   jkoriel@fionahuttonassoc.com

 

 

Sacramento, CA—Today, a jury in Minnesota found former officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and culpable negligence for the killing of George Floyd in May of last year in 10 hours of deliberation. The jury began deliberating the verdict on Monday, April 19 following three weeks of witness testimony including the Chief of Minneapolis Police, use of force and crisis training experts, public safety academics, first responders and witnesses who testified for the prosecution.

 

The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), the largest statewide law enforcement association in the nation, offered the following statement from President Brian Marvel:

 

“George Floyd was a man in distress and crying out for help, and his death should not have happened. This incident is an affirmation that we must hold officers accountable when their actions are found to be unlawful and inconsistent with training and best practices in the use of force to gain compliance.

 

“Today’s guilty verdict should be a wake-up call for the nation. It is time for America to adopt a national use of force standard, to mandate that all peace officers have a duty to intercede, to raise the bar for use of force training standards for all peace officers in every state across this country. We started this process in California by passing SB 230 and AB 392, and now we need to make these changes across the nation.

 

“As law enforcement officers across the nation are working to build trust within their communities, I am hopeful that today’s verdict will be another small step towards mending the divide.”

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