‘NEVER CONVINCED’

Chauvin Prosecutor Says He Feared a Not-Guilty Verdict Right Up to the End

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CBS News that his memories of Rodney King and other previous cases against police officers made him concerned.

The nation held its breath when Judge Peter Cahill began to read out the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin on Tuesday, and even the man responsible for the case against the disgraced ex-cop was worried. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told CBS News that his memories of previous cases against cops—most notably, the Rodney King case—made him concerned that Chauvin was about to walk free. “I was never convinced we were going to win this case until we heard the verdict of guilty,” Ellison told 60 Minutes. “Particularly when the victim is a person of color, it’s just rare that there's any accountability... I was not sure that we were going to get the just result that we did get until I heard Judge Cahill announce the verdict.” Nevertheless, Chauvin was convicted on all three charges—unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter—in the murder of George Floyd.