News Roundup

The major national criminal law news of the week was the murder conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while arresting him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.  The jury’s verdict followed a trial that lasted nearly two weeks and included testimony from witnesses ranging from bystanders who filmed the incident and pleaded for Floyd’s life to the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department.  Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, spoke with the PBS NewsHour about what the verdict meant for his family and the wider movement to eliminate racial disparities in policing.  Keep reading for more news. Elizabeth City.  A day after the verdict was rendered in the Chauvin trial, the shooting death of a Black man in Elizabeth City during the execution of a search warrant became national news and sparked calls for accountability and transparency from members of the city council and others.  The Associated Press reports that witnesses say that Andrew Brown Jr., was shot  by a Pasquotank County Sheriff’s deputy while trying to drive away from the location where the warrant was being served.  Few details about the incident were available at the time of writing and body camera footage has not yet been released. Columbus.  Another police shooting drawing national attention this week occurred in Columbus, Ohio, where an officer fatally shot a 16-year-old girl, Ma’Khia Bryant, after responding to a disturbance where Bryant was brandishing a knife.  As the [...]