Alan Dershowitz stated that the recent violent public comments made by Rep. Maxine Waters D-Calif., concerning the Derek Chauvin trial is equivalent to “putting not only a thumb but an elbow on the scales of justice.”
“Nothing could be more violative of the United States Constitution,” he added.
Alan Dershowitz said on Monday’s edition of Newsmax TV's “The Chris Salcedo Show,” that Maxine Waters “hasn't only been calling for violence, she's been threatening and intimidating the jurors by what she's saying to the jurors.”
This is a direct attempt to influence the jury in the Chauvin trial, he said.
Waters is saying “essentially if you don't do what we want you to do, if you don't find Chauvin guilty of murder… if you don't do what we want you to do and convict him of murder, we may burn down your businesses. We may attack your schools; we may attack your streets, he warned.
Dershowitz continued, “this is a direct attempt to influence the jury and it's exactly the same as what used to happen in the Deep South when the clan would stand outside of courtrooms and intimidate jurors that unless you convict a Black man or acquit a white man, we're going to do violence.”
At a demonstration in Brooklyn Center, Minn., Maxine Waters is quoted as having publicly said, if Derek Chauvin, who is standing trial for the death of George Floyd, is not found guilty, “then we know that we’ve got to not only stay in the street, but we’ve got to fight for justice.” according to video. “We’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. You’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business,” reported the LA Times.
What she said is much worse than simply inciting violence, he added. “She is threatening violence in order to get a jury verdict that satisfies her notion of revenge and vengeance.”
That is not the way the American system of justice should operate, he concluded.
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