Alternate juror on Chauvin trial was ‘concerned about people’ coming to her house ‘if they were not happy with the verdict’

Chauvin was convicted earlier this week of committing second degree murder, third degree murder, and manslaughter after George Floyd, a resident of Minneapolis, died under his knee during an arrest caught on video.

Christensen said that prior to the trial, she had not watched the full video of Floyd's death, noting that she does "not use social media, so I did not post anything or see anything on there."

She said that prior to the trial, she was surprised to hear that the Minneapolis Police Department had settled with Floyd's family to the amount of $27 million.

"I knew it was a separate case," she said. "I knew civil cases are different with different rules, so it did not affect me. I was not surprised there was a settlement, but I was surprised they announced it beforehand."

She also expressed her concerns about being a juror, saying that she "was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict" and that she did not want Minneapolis "to go through rioting and destruction again."

Despite her concerns over being a juror, Christensen said that she was disappointed when she learned that she was an alternate on the jury and would not be involved in deliberating on the verdict. "I spent three weeks of my time, getting invested and going through all kinds of emotions," she said. "My heart broke a little."

Nevertheless, Christensen expressed her approval of the verdict, saying that she "would have voted guilty."

Christensen offered praise to a number of experts for the prosecution who she said played a major role in convincing her of Chauvin's guilt, including Dr. Martin Tobin and LAPD Sergeant Jody Stiger.

"[Dr. Tobin] broke it down to where we could understand it. He had us demonstrate. We were all in the jury touching our necks and we could feel what he was trying to make us feel. What really did it was when he said, 'right here at this point was when [Floyd] had that seizure and this is where he died.'"

She also said that she strongly considered the defense's argument that Floyd's drug use and enlarged heart caused his death, but was ultimately left unconvinced that Floyd would have died on that day at that time had Chauvin not been kneeling on Floyd's neck.

Aside from figures from the prosecution, Christensen praised Chauvin's lawyer Eric Nelson for what she described as a "really good job."

She had a less favorable impression of Chauvin in the court room, however, noting that they often locked eyes in a way that made her "a little uncomfortable." She also said that Chauvin made the right choice not to testify.

"I think the prosecution would have torn him up," she said, "so I think he made a good choice."