'Highly unlikely' Chauvin trial ends in 'all-out' acquittal, legal analyst predicts

As Minneapolis and the rest of the nation brace for the looming verdict in former police officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial, ABC News' chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said Sunday that he believe it is "highly unlikely" the trial is headed toward an "all-out" acquittal.

Closing arguments still have to take place, and Abrams noted that the defense has the benefit of not having to prove that Chauvin did not kill George Floyd by kneeling on his neck during an arrest last May (the burden of proof is on the prosecution and the defense's goal is to show there's reasonable doubt), but, still, he said he and others who have followed the trial closely would be "stunned" if Chauvin was found not guilty on all three of charges — second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter — he faces.

ABC's Martha Raddatz asked civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Floyd's family, what he thought the outcome might be, as well. Crump did not make a prediction, saying only that he is praying that Chauvin is found to be "criminally liable for killing" Floyd.

If that does not turn out to be the result, Crump said it would be another case in which "the American legal system has broken our heart."

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