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Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Wake-Up Call: A City Braces As Jury Deliberates

Star-Tribune website screenshot

The jury began deliberations Monday in former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's murder and manslaughter trial in the death of George Floyd after hearing closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense for most of the day. The jurors, who are being sequestered during deliberations, ended for the night after about four hours. They will have to decide charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.


During his presentation, prosecutor Steve Schleicher referred to the video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes and played parts of it, telling jurors, "Use your common sense. Believe your eyes. What you saw, you saw." He said said Floyd was killed by Chauvin constricting his breathing, dismissing defense arguments, including that he died due to fentanyl and methamphetamine found in his system, and that police were distracted by hostile bystanders who were urging Chauvin to remove his knee and provide medical assistance to Floyd. Fellow prosecutor Jerry Blackwell similarly dismissed the defense argument that Floyd died because he had an enlarged heart, saying, "The truth of the matter is that the reason George Floyd is dead is because Mr. Chauvin’s heart was too small."


Defense attorney Eric Nelson argued that Chauvin did what any reasonable police officer would have done in that situation of a large man struggling with three officers, stating, "A reasonable police officer understands the intensity of the struggle." Nelson showed jurors pictures of pills that were found in Floyd's vehicle and remnants of pills found in the police car, saying that it, quote, "defies medical science and it defies common sense and reason" for the prosecution to say that Floyd's medical issues and the drugs in his system didn't play a role in his death.

Judge Criticizes Rep. Maxine Waters: After closing arguments, and with jurors out of the courtroom, Judge Peter Cahill criticized comments that had been made a day earlier about the case by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, while dismissing a defense request for a mistrial based on her comments. While taking part in protests over the recent police killing of another Black man in nearby Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Waters said that if Chauvin isn't convicted of murder, quote, "we've got to get more confrontational." Cahill called those remarks "abhorrent" and "disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch," and while he didn't grant the mistrial request that argued the comments had tainted the jury, he told the defense, "Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned."

➤MEDICAL EXAMINER: CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER SICKNICK DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES AFTER CAPITOL ATTACK: The Washington, D.C., medical examiner's office ruled Monday that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after confronting rioters during the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, had a stroke and died of natural causes. Investigators had at first believed that the 42-year-old officer had been hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, and later thought he may have breathed in bear spray used by rioters that may have contributed to his death. Medical examiner Francisco Diaz did, however, tell The Washington Post that, quote, "all that transpired" on January 6th "played a role in his condition." Still, the natural cause of death ruling means it wasn't caused by an injury, making it unlikely any homicide charges will be brought in Sicknick's death. U.S. Capitol Police said the ruling didn’t change the fact that Sicknick had died in the line of duty, quote, "courageously defending Congress and the Capitol."

➤NO 'RED FLAG' HEARING HELD FOR FEDEX SHOOTER THAT COULD HAVE PREVENTED GUN PURCHASE: An Indiana prosecutor said Monday that a "red flag" hearing wasn't held in 2020 for the 19-year-old man who killed eight people at a Fedex facility in Indianapolis last week even after his mother called police to say he might commit "suicide by cop." Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said authorities didn't try to hold a "red flag" hearing that could have prevented Brandon Scott Hole from buying a gun, because they didn't have enough time under the law's limits to definitively show that he had a propensity for suicidal thoughts. The law requires a "good-faith effort" to hold a hearing within 14 days. Police had taken a shotgun from Hole in March 2020 after his mother's call. Mears said yesterday, "The risk is, if we move forward with that [red flag] process and lose, we have to give that firearm back to that person. That’s not something we were willing to do." Hole, who bought the two assault-style rifles he used in the Fedex shooting legally, also killed himself.

➤EX-DEPUTY WANTED IN KILLING OF THREE IN TEXAS CAUGHT: A 41-year-old former sheriff's deputy who was wanted in the killing of three people, including his wife and 17-year-old daughter in Austin, Texas, was caught early Monday after a 20-hour manhunt. Stephen Broderick was apprehended after two 911 calls were made about a man walking along a road in an Austin suburb. Broderick is alleged to have killed his wife, Amanda Broderick, daughter Alyssa Broderick, and 18-year-old Willie Simmons III on Sunday. He resigned from the Travis County sheriff's office after he was arrested last June and charged with sexually assaulting a child. Court records indicate the victim was his daughter Alyssa, who was then 16. Broderick had been released on bond and had to wear a GPS monitor. But a judge allowed him to remove it in October, with the defense saying he'd worn it for 142 days with no substantial violations.

Walter Mondale 1928-2021

➤FORMER VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE DEAD AT 93: Former Vice President Walter Mondale, whose served under President Jimmy Carter during his one term from 1977 to 1981, died on Monday (April 19th). He was 93. In a statement last night, Carter called Mondale "the best vice president in our country’s history," saying, "Fritz Mondale provided us all with a model for public service and private behavior." Mondale was the first vice president to have an office in the White House instead of in a building across the street, and he advised Carter on domestic and foreign affairs.


President Biden said of the liberal icon, "It was Walter Mondale who defined the vice presidency as a full partnership, and helped provide a model for my service." The Minnesota Democrat, who also served as a U.S. senator and ambassador to Japan, won the Democratic presidential nomination himself in 1984. He made history by choosing a woman, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, as his vice presidential running mate, but suffered a huge loss to President Ronald Reagan as he ran for re-election, winning only his home state and the District of Columbia in a 525-13 electoral vote loss.

➤COAST GUARD SUSPENDS SEARCH FOR EIGHT BOAT CREW MEMBERS IN GULF OF MEXICO: The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search last night for eight boat crew members in the Gulf of Mexico, six days after their lift boat capsized off Louisiana. Authorities don't expect to find any more survivors. The Seacor Power lift boat, which has three legs that can be lowered to the sea floor to lift it out of the water as a temporary platform, capsized last Tuesday in a storm. Six people were rescued alive, and five bodies were found. The boat was headed to an oil platform at the mouth of the Mississippi River when it capsized.

➤APPLE TO ALLOW PARLER BACK TO APP STORE:  Apple is going to allow Parler back into the App Store after the social media app that's popular with conservatives, as well as with some members of the far-right, improved its content moderation policies. That's according to a letter from Apple executive Timothy Powderly tweeted by Republican Rep. Ken Buck Monday, which the congressman called a "huge win for free speech." Apple pulled Parler from the App Store after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, because, according to Powderly, the app was allowing posts that, quote, "encouraged violence, denigrated various ethnic groups, races and religions, glorified Nazism, and called for violence against specific people." He said in the letter, which was sent in response to questions about the banning from Buck and Republican Senator Mike Lee, that Parler's return was okayed after what he called "substantial conversations" about its moderation policies.


👀SINGLE MEN REVEAL WHAT THEY FIND MOST ATTRACTIVE IN A FEMALE PARTNER: The old saying says that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but dating coach Louanne Ward, who is based in Australia, decided to ask single males what they find most attractive in a potential partner. The vast majority said long-term attraction is less about physical appearance and more about character, specifically the values a woman holds and how she treats others. Others argued that looks do matter as a romantic relationship cannot begin without some level of physical attraction. The top 5 personality traits the men mentioned were: 1) honesty, 2) confidence, 3) playfulness, 4) kindness/gratefulness, 5) loyalty, while the top 5 physical traits they named were: 1) eyes, 2) smile, 3) butt, 4) breasts, 5) legs.

➤NASA HELICOPTER FLIES ABOVE MARS: NASA's experimental helicopter flew up above the surface of Mars yesterday, becoming the first powered flight by an aircraft on another plant. Marking the historic moment, the four-pound copter named Ingenuity carried a small piece of wing fabric from the Wright brothers plane that first flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. Ingenuity was just in the air for a brief 39 seconds, hovering 10 feet up. The helicopter arrived on Mars in February on board the rover Perseverance. Because Mars' atmosphere is just one percent of the density of Earth's, Ingenuity's twin rotor blades need to spin fives times faster than on Earth.


➤STATE DEPT. TO ADVISE NOT TRAVELING TO 80 PERCENT OF COUNTRIES DUE TO COVID: The State Department said Monday that it will begin updating its travel advisories this week, increasing the number of countries it's advising against traveling to due to Covid-19 by a large amount to about 80 percent of nations from the current 16 percent. The State Department noted the change doesn't, quote, "imply a reassessment of the current health situation in a given country," but reflected a change to rely more heavily on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It says the advisories also consider what it called "logistical factors," like the availability of in-country Covid testing and travel restrictions for U.S. citizens.

➤SUPREME COURT JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT GETS BOOK DEAL: The Supreme Court's newest member, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who just joined the high court last fall, has gotten a book deal, with Politico reporting she got a $2 million advance. The book is being put out by Penguin Random House's conservative Sentinel imprint. Politico further said the book will be about how judges should avoid letting their decisions be shaped by personal feelings.

➤REPUBLICAN REP. STIVERS OF OHIO RESIGNING FROM CONGRESS: Republican Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio announced on Twitter Monday that he's resigning from Congress next month. The 56-year-old Stivers, who was first elected in 2010, said he's leaving to become the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. With his departure, the House balance will be 218 Democrats and 211 Republicans, down from 212, with five vacancies. A date for a special election to fill his seat hasn't yet been set.

🏀CURRY SCORES 49 POINTS, INCLUDING 10 THREE-POINTERS IN WARRIORS' WIN: Golden State's Stephen Curry scored 49 points last night, including 10 three-point shots, in the Warriors' 107-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Curry has now had 11 straight games with 30 or more points, besting Kobe Bryant for the most by any player 33 or older. Curry, who turned 33 last month, also had his fifth 40-point game in April, topping Bryant and Michael Jordan for most 40-point games in a month by a player age 33 or older.

🏒SHARKS' MARLEAU BREAKS HOWE'S RECORD FOR MOST NHL GAMES PLAYED: The San Jose Sharks' Patrick Marleau broke the legendary Gordie Howe's record last night for the most games played in NHL history, with his 1,768th career game. Most of the 41-year-old's games have been with the Sharks, 1,596 of them, and he also had 164 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and eight games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. When he made his NHL debut in October 1997, he was just 18 years and 16 days old, the youngest for any player in the league since Lee Wharton in 1945.
The Sharks ended up losing last night's game to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2.

🏈QB ALEX SMITH ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT: Quarterback Alex Smith announced his retirement yesterday after 16 NFL seasons, sharing the news on Instagram. The 36-year-old wrote, "I want to say thank you for believing in me, and thank you for helping me believe in myself -- and in the impossible. Because even though I’ve got plenty of snaps left in me, after 16 years of giving this game everything I’ve got, I can’t wait to see what else is possible." Smith made an amazing return last season with Washington, two years after suffering a gruesome broken leg in a November 2018 game, after which he had to have 17 surgeries. He went 5-1 as a starter last season. Washington released Smith in March, and though he initially said he intended to keep playing, he remained unsigned more than a month into free agency.

🏀ROCKETS SAY BROWN ATTACKED IN MIAMI: The Houston Rockets said Monday that guard Sterling Brown had been attacked the night before after the team arrived in Miami, suffering cuts to his face, from which he'll make a full recovery. The Rockets said of the attackers, "He had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants." No other information was released. Head coach Stephen Silas said, "Heart-wrenching. Rips your heart out. It’s one of your guys, someone on your team that you care about, someone that you’re with every day."

🏈WARRANT ISSUED FOR SEAHAWKS ALDON SMITH FOR BATTERY: An arrest warrant was issued Monday in Louisiana for Seattle Seahawks defensive end Aldon Smith for alleged second-degree battery. St. Bernard Parish District Attorney Perry Nicosia said Smith allegedly choked the victim unconscious during a confrontation Saturday that began inside a coffee shop in Chalmette. The 31-year-old Smith signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks just two days before the incident, on April 15th. The Seahawks said they are "gathering more information." Smith had returned with the Dallas Cowboys last season after missing more than four years due to an indefinite suspension by the NFL for multiple off-field incidents and violations of the league's substance abuse policy.


➤BASKETBALL HALF OF FAMER SCOTTIE PIPPEN'S SON DIES AT 33: Antron Pippen, the oldest child of Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, has died at age 33. Scottie Pippen shared the sad news on social media Monday, saying Antron had died on Sunday, but didn't give a cause of death. He wrote, in part, "I'm heartbroken to share that yesterday, I said goodbye to my firstborn son Antron. . . . A kind heart and beautiful soul gone way too soon. I love you, son, rest easy until we meet again." Antron, the oldest of Pippen's seven children, was the only child from his first marriage.  

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