The face mask that former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been required to wear during his trial in George Floyd's death has hidden his reaction to testimony, including any sympathy or remorse that legal experts say can make a difference to jurors.
Because coronavirus concerns have forced Chauvin and other participants to wear masks except when they're addressing the court, the enduring image of the defendant throughout the trial has been his impassive expression from last May as he gazed at the teenager filming his knee pinning Floyd's neck.
The girl, who captured the encounter on her cellphone, called Chauvin's stare “cold" and heartless." Prosecutors have repeatedly displayed the image in the courtroom, and Minneapolis