In this case it was stupidity. His defense never raised the issue that this was an accident or that Chauvin didn’t mean to kill him. By failing to testify he made it possible for the jury to conclude, based on the 9 minute video that he really didn’t care if Floyd died or not.
He needed to take the stand to give his side of the story. He didn’t. There was no evidence of his state of mind other than the 9 minute video,
There are times when a defendant really needs to take the stand. This was one of them.
No one should be surprised at his verdict.
It would have come even if Chauvin took the stand.
The good news is that because of threats to the jury by the MSM, and the biased tampering of this case by Mad Max Waters and Pedo Joe Biden, this case is a shoe in to be overturned on appeals.
I hope.
I’m not surprised at all. Chauvin was simply not walking away from this. Those who thought he was were looking entirely through a conservative lens. No way that would ever happen in that war zone. Drugs, carbon monoxide, time knee on neck...irrelevant. They had enough to hang the guy. It was the easy way out.