"Race is the story": Not since the O.J. Simpson trial has there been so much anticipation about a criminal trial verdict. The country is watching the case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for unintentional murder and manslaughter. "It's always a difficult thing to address race in a criminal trial," Donna Coltharp said. But law and race are on trial too. Former Federal public defender and current St. Mary's Law School criminal law professor Donna Coltharp agrees. "Race is the story in the Minnesota trial," she said. Putting race on the witness stand, she said, does not frequently happen because of the burden of proof.