I just had a fascinating sit-down interview with one of the alternate jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial.
Lisa Christensen was the juror who lived in Brooklyn Center. One night she could hardly make it home after testimony ended because of protesters blocking intersections.
Christensen thought Derek Chauvin was guilty.
Dr. Martin Tobin was the witness who influenced her the most toward that conclusion.
That demonstration where the jurors felt their necks? Extremely effective.
Much much much more to come after I start putting this together.
We will have full stories on all the @kare11 newscasts today. Then my kare11.com story, I promise, will be a gold mine of information about how this juror processed every bit of this trial.
And for the record -- she did not know she was an alternate juror until the moment Judge Cahill said so.
She went home every night and took additional notes about how each witness.
"When he turned and said, Number 96, you’re an alternate, yeah, my heart broke a little bit."
This was shocking to me, but Christensen told me she and the other jurors didn't even share their real names and occupations with each other. Just called each other by juror number. Got along but mostly made small talk. Concerned about saying "too much."
As some suspected -- the 2019 incident involving George Floyd in one way ended up helping the prosecution. From Christensen's note: "George didn't die that day even though this arrest was similar to May 25th, 2020"
On eyewitness Donald Williams -- "He did a good job explaining the blood choke hold."
Christensen also noticed the lettering on the T-shirt underneath his white dress shirt.
Talking with Christensen today made it apparent how much tougher the next trial, for the other three officers, will be for the state.
From finding a jury to convicting those officers.
Here is the full Q and A with Juror 96. As well as contemporaneous notes she took while empaneled as a juror in the Derek Chauvin trial. kare11.com/article/news/l…
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"Dad went to war last night," Vance Boelter texted his wife and other family members at 6:18 a.m. according to the new federal criminal complaint.
In Boelter's wife's car, police found two handguns, $10k cash, and passports for her in her kids who were with her at that time.
Boelter had tested "there's gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don't want you guys around."
The complaint says Boelter bought some of his tactical gear on June 9 -- flashlight, rifle case, ammo, and letters for making the fake POLICE license plate.
Remarkable exchange as Salim Said, Feeding our Future defendant is cross-examined by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson!
Several jurors had smiles on their faces, trying not to chuckle.
More zingers this afternoon from Thompson. When showing Said that his company Salim Limited received more money from one meal site than anyone else, Said questioned Thompson:
Ladan Ali has changed her plea to guilty, admitting she dropped off the attempted bribe for a juror in the Feeding our Future trial. She is looking at a likely sentence of about 5 years in prison. Some new details came out in the plea hearing in federal court.
Ali admitted she lost confidence that the bribe plan would work and instead hatched her own plan to steal the bribe money. She told the other defendants the juror would take $500k in exchange for a not-guilty verdict. They were able to come up with $200k. At the last minute, one of the co-defendants got in the car with her which prevented her from stealing all the money.. instead she says she stole $80k of it, and dropped off $120k at the juror's house.
Ladan Ali leaving court after her guilty plea. The sentencing date has not been set but those found guilty in the Feeding our Future trial will be sentenced in October.
The Myon Burrell case today is proceeding in a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary fashion. There will not be a jury trial.. instead there will be a stipulated evidence trial where the judge renders a verdict. But first -- what he is hinging his case on -- they are asking the court of appeals to review a pretrial ruling regarding the legality of the stop and search of his car by Robbinsdale Police.
The way I understand it, if the court of appeals decides the stop and search was illegal -- the prosecution agrees the case cannot go to trial and it would be dismissed.
If Burrell loses this appeal and the case goes before the judge, he almost certainly would be convicted.
Since police found a loaded gun in Burrell's car in that search, he is charged with a felon in possession of a firearm which carries a mandatory minimum 5 years in prison.
His attorneys challenged the legality of the search several months ago but Judge Peter Cahill ruled it valid.
I'm in a St. Croix County Wisconsin courtroom for the sentencing of Nicolae Miu, who was convicted of killing Isaac Schuman and stabbing 4 others on the Apple River two years ago yesterday. kare11.com/article/news/l…
The victim impact statements were heartbreaking, and none moreso than Isaac's mother Alina Hernandez.
“He stole Isaac’s life and he stole my life. Losing Isaac -- my baby -- has devastated me and shattered my heart.”
“Isaac was senselessly murdered and died terrified.”
Alina Hernandez gave us a portrait of her son, his interests and entrepreneurial spirit. Heartbreaking details like how he was anxiously awaiting his new golf clubs which were delivered a couple days after his death.
BREAKING: The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged 5 people in the attempted bribe of a juror in the recent Feeding our Future trial. The suspects include three defendants in that trial, including Said Farah – whom the jury fully acquitted. He's back in jail now.
The bribe suspects include Said Farah, his brother Abdiaziz Farah (referred as the “ringleader” of the 7 Feeding our Future defendants tried weeks ago), and Abdimajid Nur. Two additional defendants charged -- Abdulkarim Shafii Farah and Ladan Mohamed Ali
Wild details in indictment including following Juror #52 home from court.
US Attorney Andy Luger about to give more details -- Stream link HERE: