DALLAS — There are only a few people who know what it’s like to be on a jury on a high-profile trial. As the jury deliberated Tuesday in the trial for the former Minneapolis officer accused of killing George Floyd, Juror 34 from the trial for former Dallas Officer Amber Guyger shared her memories of making a difficult decision while the world is watching.
“Everybody has to come to one conclusion, one ending. Everybody’s got to come up with guilty or not guilty,” she said. “So, if you have two people who are not guilty, and everybody else says he’s guilty, you’ve got to wait ‘til everybody’s on one accord.
“Because it’s like, I know you’re guilty, but if the state doesn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt - to them - then, technically they’re not guilty,” she added. “If the state didn’t do their job and didn’t prove to that jury, then that can be a reason to get a not-guilty verdict.”
The jury in the Guyger case had to determine if she was guilty or not guilty; they had to sentence her, too.
“When you put twelve people with twelve different mindsets, twelve different backgrounds, twelve different nationalities in one room and you’re expecting to get one number, it’s not going to happen,” she said. “Everybody had to compromise and come up with one number.”
She said she hopes the public understands how hard it can be to make a decision on a jury.
“You can’t go based off your emotion, you can’t go based off your feelings, you can’t go based off what decision was," she listed. "You have to go based off what’s reasonable. Would a reasonable person do that?”
She feels like former Officer Guyger showed much more remorse than former Officer Derek Chauvin, who was ultimately found guilty of murder.
“Even when she went on the stand, which a lot of people didn’t get to see, but she went out of order just to apologize to the family,” she said. “But Derek Chauvin, he didn’t even testify, and honestly watching him he didn’t even show any remorse. Like he doesn’t seem sad at all.”
Either way, now, 18 months after a verdict, the Guyger trial remains on her mind, while her heart hopes for peace in Minnesota.
“It was really stressful, it was hard, I was like ‘Man I can’t even talk to my mom about how I’m feelin’. It was like, the only person I could talk to was God. I could only pray,” the juror said. “They’re definitely in my prayers because I understand how stressful it can be. Because like this is somebody’s life that somebody else has taken and now you’re accountable for that person’s life.”