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San Diego experts weigh in on Derek Chauvin murder trial

The case is now in the hands of the jury, after closing arguments wrapped up Monday.

SAN DIEGO — Closing arguments ended Monday in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.

Genevieve Jones-Wright, former San Diego County public defender, and now executive director of the nonprofit, Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance, reacted to Monday’s closing arguments, saying of Derek Chauvin’s defense attorney, “He is really painstakingly taking his time because all he needs is one juror.”

Eric Nelson spoke for hours, at one point, dissecting the very same video that sparked outrage over George Floyd's death.

He also analyzed other videos leading up to Floyd's arrest, saying Chauvin's actions were reasonable.

"The nine-minute and 29 seconds ignores the previous 16 minutes and 59 seconds," Nelson said.

"This video has been played over and over again during the trial and before that we all witnessed George Floyd take his last breath and so I believe this is a strategy by the defense attorney to have the jurors distance themselves from the emotions," Jones-Wright said.

The defense argued Floyd died of underlying heart disease and drug use.

But, the prosecution said the former Minneapolis police officer chose pride over policing, and implored the jury to find Chauvin guilty.

"Use your common sense. Use your common sense. Believe your eyes. What you saw you saw."

Chauvin faces second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Jones-Wright said determining Chauvin's intentions will be key.

“Jurors have to understand what the element of each crime is and what the intent was," she said. 

David Bejarano, a former San Diego and Chula Vista police chief, also weighed in, saying, “It's not the training. It was a violation of the policies and training wasn't adhered to.”

Bejarano and Jones-Wright agree regardless of the final verdict, they hope this case will result in permanent changes when it comes to policing, and building trust between officers and the community.

“Without a doubt, we have to. Law enforcement can't sit behind. It's significant that departments have moved a lot. There's probably a lot more that they can be doing,” said Bejarano.

"It doesn't matter to me what the verdict is. We have work to do to dismantle the policing systems as we see them now as they now exist," said Jones-Wright.

A verdict could come as soon as this week. Minneapolis has security measures in place to prepare for possible demonstrations.

WATCH: CBS News correspondent Michael George shares thoughts on closing arguments, deliberations in Chauvin 

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