A body language expert has spoken out about Derek Chauvin’s behavior and revealed some of the emotions the disgraced cop was displaying during his trial.
As DailyMail.com reported, Patti Wood, a body language expert, analyzed the former Minnesota cop’s behavior in court and told the publication about the hidden messages behind his movements and actions.
Among other key points, Wood noted that there was more to Chauvin’s constant note-taking than one would think. As she insisted, the 45-year-old kept on taking notes – no matter who was talking – to stay focused and occupied as part of a self-comfort strategy.
“It is standard practice for me to coach my executive and politician clients to ‘take notes’ so they will stay focused and occupied, have something to do with their hands – as hands often go to ‘Self-Comfort Cues’ – and overall not be as nervous and not give as many tells,” Wood told Daily Mail.
“I give caveats to that advice however saying its important at times to show respect, caring, and concern partiality.
“These caveats were not coached and or shown by [the defendant]. Because he was labeled as unfeeling and lacking of emotion before the trial, it was a mistake for him to [take notes] so often. Here the lack of emotion during very painful testimony may have affected the jury’s impression of him negatively.”
Throughout the long trial, Chauvin also appeared to maintain a perfect posture which allegedly indicates that he was “very aware of his circumstances and surroundings.”
Wood also pointed out the way Chauvin was holding the microphone saying he “may have been coached to hold the mike in an unguarded way” to appear less tense. His anxiety, however, was given away by his “clipped, tense, rapid replies” and constant focus on his lawyer “in a way that makes it look like he is searching for approval.”
The body language expert also called attention to Chauvin’s chin placement saying its position made him look “a bit smug.”
“The one tell that makes him look a bit smug is his chin placement. Chin placement is a key place to read for feeling of confidence. Confidence is shown when the chin is held at the center,” she said.
“He holds his neck arched out at one point and throughout hold his chin up above ‘the center line’ showing he feels superior. I think that is telling because it’s very hard to consciously control the chin placement when under stress, so it tends to go to its natural baseline of that person’s normal.”
As Chauvin’s attorney was about to deliver the final defense, the former police officer briefly removed his mask in an alleged attempt to show his emotional side to the jury, Wood says.
“I think the mask off was an attempt to have the jury read him and potentially see him be emotional. The background of court trials recently has been controversial, in some they have delayed going forward for fear their defendant won’t be seen on Zoom or under a mask as a human, innocent and real. It’s a big concern,” she added.
Once the jury reached a verdict, it was time for the decision to be read aloud in the court. While Chauvin’s mouth and nose were covered during the reading of the verdict, his eyes gave away a lot about what he was feeling at the time.
According to Wood, the defendant’s rapid eye movement upon hearing he’s been found guilty signals a shift from fear to anger.
“The fear is clear in the tenseness of the lower eyelids and the way he is raising his upper eyelids. The rapid eye movement is him processing the verdict as anyone would – first in the emotional limbic brain and going over to the neocortex to the logical thinking brain to decide how to respond,” Wood said.
“The rapid movement shows his constant attempt to first feel fearful, understand what is being said and stay calm over and over again. But mixed with the fear are also nonverbal indications of anger: when his eyebrows lower slightly and are drawn together along with the lower eyelid tension, so we see him glaring.
“I had enough baseline of his normal to detect his shift from fear to anger in these few moments. I would say he did not expect his behavior to have reached this judgment.”
Lastly, the body language expert told the publication that Chauvin’s mugshot in a maximum-security prison signals sadness in his eyes but also defiance in his upturned chin.
Wood also drew attention to Chauvin’s overall mannerisms during the trial saying he may have been perceived as a sociopath due to his unusual behavior.
“The constant note-taking and the chin up, which can be seen even with a mask on, may have been the reason some people labeled Chauvin as looking unfeeling or even labeling him as a sociopath,” she insisted.
“Because of the long horrific video [of George Floyd’s killing] – this was a trial that caused many people who saw the video feel horrific pain and sympathy for the victim. So the baseline of normal response for the defendant is expected to show a reflection of our normal even knowing that he feels and considers himself innocent.
“I know that lawyers may coach a client to show no emotion to make the victim look more guilty, but again we saw the video of the victim’s agony, so that standard lawyerly advice about how to comport yourself as the defendant in the courtroom could – and in this case did – backfire.”
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