This likely will be a big week in Minneapolis. And in this country.
Closing arguments begin today in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. Then the jurors will begin their deliberations.
When will we have a verdict? It’s anyone’s guess.
The judge in this case, Peter Cahill, told the jury to “plan for long and hope for short.” Jurors will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.
As far as what they will decide? Well, that’s anyone’s guess, too.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, ABC News’ chief legal analyst Dan Abrams told moderator Martha Raddatz, “I think it’s highly unlikely you’re going to see an acquittal here. … I think those of us who have been watching this case closely, who have been watching all the expert testimony, watched the video, watched the opening statement, et cetera, would be stunned if there was an all-out acquittal where you find 12 jurors who say that he was not guilty.”
CNN’s Ray Sanchez, Kay Jones and Eric Fiegel reported that Minneapolis and other U.S. cities already are preparing for potential unrest depending on the verdict. My Poynter colleague Al Tompkins tweeted out his guide for journalists covering such protests and civil unrest.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday, “The NBA has instructed teams to be vigilant about the impact of a potential verdict this week in the Derek Chauvin trial for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, including the possibility of game postponements.”
The New York Times’ John Eligon and Shawn Hubler report that since testimony in the trial began on March 29, more than three people a day have died at the hands of law enforcement.
Eligon and Hubler write, “Since testimony began on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide, with Black and Latino people representing more than half of the dead.”
They add, “The deaths, culled by The New York Times from gun violence databases, news media accounts and law enforcement releases, offer a snapshot of policing in America in this moment. They testify not only to the danger and desperation that police officers confront daily, but also to the split-second choices and missteps by members of law enforcement that can escalate workaday arrests into fatalities.”
To that end, Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright, told ABC News’ “This Week” what a guilty verdict in this Chauvin trial might mean.
“The outcome that we pray for and Derek Chauvin is for him to be held criminally liable for killing George Floyd, because we believe that could be a precedent,” Crump said. “Finally making America live up to its promise of liberty and justice for all. That means all of us — Black people, Hispanic people, Native people — all of us.”
Check your facts
Perhaps the biggest news story in Houston at the moment has to do with Deshaun Watson, the quarterback of the NFL’s Houston Texans. In the past month, more than 20 women, most of them massage therapists, have accused Watson of sexual assault, harassment and inappropriate behavior. Some 23 lawsuits have been filed against Watson and, as of now, 22 are scheduled to go to trial.
However, these cases are already being tried in the court of public opinion and the Houston Chronicle’s Alex Stuckey has discovered that both sides have made errors in the rush to sway the public. For example, Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin released the statements of 18 women who are massage therapists. They defended Watson and said he never acted inappropriately with them.
Stuckey wrote, “But a Houston Chronicle analysis of the names and licenses of the 18 women presented to the public by Hardin as character witnesses found the list was littered with errors. Names were spelled incorrectly. Licenses couldn’t be found for some. At least one woman’s massage therapy license has been expired since before Watson graduated from college. Giving a massage without a license is a misdemeanor in Georgia, where this woman works. The inaccuracies extended to the other side of the case. The lawyer who represents Watson’s accusers, Tony Buzbee, misspelled a name and the Chronicle could not find a license for one of his clients.”
The big lesson for the media here? Check everything. Vet everything. Don’t just run press releases blindly. That’s what happened here. Several media outlets, including the Chronicle, published the press release from Watson’s attorney without vetting it.
As Stuckey wrote, “Legal experts say the mistakes illustrate the problems associated with high-profile cases that play out in the media as lawyers duel with each other to curry the public’s favor even before the civil cases begin — and victim advocates worry that the women behind the lawsuits are being lost in the shuffle.”
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, who also is an attorney, wrote, “These issues most likely will have no relevance to the merits of the cases or Watson’s defense in court. As the jurors in the court of public opinion continue to process information and to reach conclusions, however, little things like these could become a factor.”
And outside of court, it’s a valuable lesson for journalists.
Tribune Publishing update
For this item, I turn it over to Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.
Hotel magnate Stewart Bainum Jr.’s effort to buy Tribune Publishing suffered a major setback over the weekend when his partner, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, pulled out of the deal.
Wyss lost interest, The New York Times’ Katie Robertson reported Saturday, when he and his representatives looked at the books and no longer had confidence that they could transform the Chicago Tribune, his primary interest, into a strong national newspaper.
For now, that means a bid from hedge fund Alden Global Capital to buy shares it does not already own in a transaction valued at $630 million is the only offer on the table. A special committee of Tribune Publishing has recommended that shareholders vote to take the deal.
However, a source familiar with Bainum’s thinking said that he has already begun speaking with other potential investors and hopes to submit a new offer within a week to 10 days. The special committee said in securities filings that the $680 million Bainum and Wyss had proposed to pay appeared to be a “superior” offer that should be considered if financing was in place and it became firm rather than tentative.
Bainum lives in Maryland and has primarily been interested in acquiring The Baltimore Sun. Last fall he reached a tentative agreement with Alden to buy just the Sun for $65 million, but that came apart in a disagreement over fees for centralized services Alden would continue to provide.
Resurrecting that deal remains a possibility, the source said, but Bainum’s present focus is on finding new investors to acquire the whole company or to buy individual papers in their home communities.
Besides the Sun and the flagship Chicago Tribune, Tribune Publishing owns papers in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Allentown, Norfolk/Newport News and New York City.
Fauci vs. Jordan
