Decision Time: The case has gone to the jury in the murder trial of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd and 3,000 members of the National Guard are on duty waiting for the decision.

  The whole trial may be in jeopardy because of the public pronouncements of California Rep. Maxine Waters, a prominent California Democrat, who told to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” if Chauvin is acquitted. Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Miller moved for a mistrial, saying those comments amounted to threats and intimidation. 

  Judge Peter Cahill denied the request but said, “Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”

  Miller had spent hours in closing argument saying his client’s actions were within training and reason for a police officer trying to make a difficult arrest in front of an angry crowd. He said that what you see on the video tape of Floyd’s death doesn’t reveal the true cause of death; drug use and heart disease.

  Miller’s aim was to obfuscate and create doubt about whether then Minneapolis Off. Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck. 

  Floyd struggled and fought back when officers tried to put him in a squad car and Miller said,  “Not a single use-of-force expert that testified, not a single police officer who testified, said that anything up until this point was unlawful or unreasonable.” But the trial is about what happened next, the 9 minutes and 29 seconds Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck, ending in his death. 

In closing for the state, prosecutor Steve Schleicher said, ‘This wasn’t policing, this was murder.”

  The prosecutor said, “Humans need that to breathe. And he said that, and the defendant heard him say that over and over. He heard him, but he just didn’t listen.” Schleicher went on, “And the defendant continued this assault. When he was unable to speak, the defendant continued. When he was unable to breathe, the defendant continued beyond the point that he had a pulse.”

The Obit Page: Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who served just one term with Jimmy Carter and was crushed by Ronald Reagan in his 1983 bid for the presidency, has died at age 93.

  Mondale is described as the first vice president to serve as a real partner to a president, with full access to intelligence briefings, and decision-making with the president. Carter said in a statement noting Mondale’s death, “During our administration, Fritz used his political skill and personal integrity to transform the vice presidency into a dynamic, policy-driving force that had never been seen before and still exists today.”

  “I’m a liberal or a progressive,” Mondale said in an interview with The NY Times in 2010 for his own obituary. He said, “I didn’t use the ‘liberal’ word much, because I thought it carried too much baggage. But my whole life, I worked on the idea that government can be an instrument for social progress. We need that progress. Fairness requires it.”

Crowd Control: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s being talked about as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, signed an “anti-riot” law he described as “the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country.”

  The law is a response without a problem that needed solving. Florida has not had major trouble with rioting protesters. But DeSantis and the bill’s supporters said the new law will make it easier for law enforcement to charge organizers and anyone involved in a protest, even if they had not engaged in any violence.

It creates a new felony crime of “aggravated rioting” that carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a new crime of “mob intimidation.”

  The new law also protects Confederate monuments along with other memorials, statues and historic property that have been the target of protests and destruction in other states.

  Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a potential Democratic challenger to DeSantis in 2022, said the law is  “simply to appease the governor’s delusion of widespread lawlessness,” and that, “The message is clear: if you disagree with him, you will be silenced.”

The Spin Rack: Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who confronted rioters during the Jan. 6th insurrection, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the following day, the District of Columbia’s chief medical examiner ruled. The ME said there was no evidence that Sicknick’s death was caused by chemical irritants or physical injuries. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s already been accused of sexual harassment and misreporting Covid-19 deaths among nursing home patients, is now under a third investigation inquiring whether he used state personnel and resources to help him with his book about the pandemic. — A federal judge ordered two members of the Proud Boys held in jail until their trial in the January 6^th insurrection saying, “these defendants are alleged by their leadership and planning to have facilitated political violence on January 6th, even if they themselves did not carry a weapon or strike a blow.” The two men are Ethan Nordean, 30, of Seattle and Joseph Randall Biggs, 37, of Ormond Beach, Florida.

Writ Large: Supreme Court freshman justice Amy Coney Barrett has signed a book deal for an advance of $2 million, Politico reports. The news site says “Three industry sources close to the matter told Politico that Barrett’s book will deal with how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into their rulings.” Or, presumably, their finances.

-30-