CHICAGO (AP) — As damning as video evidence in the George Floyd case appears to be, prosecutors know they must bring the right charges underpinned by sound legal logic if they hope to convict a Minnesota officer in Floyd’s May 25 death.
“What is my client supposed to do other than follow what the training officer said?"
Sounds like the defense wants a change of venue.
To Nuremberg.
Q: DID FLOYD POSE A THREAT?
A: Officer Chauvin’s attorneys point to the severe trauma inflicted on Officer Chauvin’s knee, due to the excessive force applied to it by Floyd’s neck.
Q: WHAT MIGHT DEFENSE LAWYERS ARGUE?
A: Officer Chauvin was only following orders, which came directly from the top, i.e., from President Trump.
This is a good summary BTB. I think gets it about right. My guess is that the “split” is not going to be on the charges, I think the two officers under training are going to plead, probably the third as well, and Chauvin will then be convicted of second degree murder.
This is NOT a first degree murder unless there is evidence to show a motive and premeditation. Absent something we don’t know (Chauvin worked with Floyd at a bar doing security) such evidence just does not exist.
I hope we are not being softened up for the possibility/likelihood that these guys will walk. We’ve not seen rage…
OMG, a possible counterfeit $20, call out all the police with riot gear. These guys over reacted to the max. For this not to be seen as a sham, they have to pay some kind of price.
All these departments need to be cleared out and started again. They are corrupt and cops can do no wrong. I have zero sympathy for them.
As always, but particularly in a case like this, jury composition is crucial. It’ll be interesting to see how they go about finding jurors considering there’s probably no one who hasn’t heard about this case and has an opinion.
It is near certain Chauvin will not be convicted of murder. If they stick to that goal he may well walk. That’s how Zimmerman got away. The goal is to jail Chauvin hopefully for the rest of his life. That can be done with other charges related to homicide. Manslaughter will convict him. He’ll never go down for murder. His attorney will point out that the knee hold is an approved method of restraint ( now prohibited ) and that he was only doing what he was trained to do. To convict him of murder you have to show that at some point he knew he was going to kill or likely kill and went on and did so. To hand him a manslaughter conviction you only need to prove he was reckless and that led to death. That’s a much lower bar than murder but it gets him gone. And gone is the goal.
When Martin was killed our DA ( I’m in JAX ) gave in to political pressure and charged Zimmerman with murder. I’m sure Zimmerman’s attorneys were ecstatic with that. Had she charged him with manslaughter he’d be rotting in jail. later Michal Dunn killed a black kid here in Jax ( over rap music ) and the DA wised up. Dunn had taken 5 shots at the kids car as it tried to get away. He was charged with 5 counts of attempt and convicted on all. 15 years on each served successively. After that she went for murder 1 on the kid he killed and convicted. He’ll die in jail. It’s likely had she gone murder 1 initially Dunn would be a free man.
If I recall, I think George also said he couldn’t breathe even before he was put into the backseat of the squad car handcuffed.
He may have been a smoker, (purchased cigarettes) he did have Covid-19 previously and he suffered from hypertension. He said he was claustrophobic and didn’t want to get into the backseat. The question is… why did Chauvin yank a handcuffed detainee who’s already in the backseat and perhaps showing signs of distress out of the backseat and pin him to the ground?
What training tells you to yank a handcuffed detainee out of the backseat of a squad car after fellow officers just got him into the backseat and pin him to the ground for no reason at all except for pure malice and to inflict more harm?
The two trainees are going to be hard to convict. My guess is they will plead to something that doesn’t include jail time. The third, more experienced officer, is going to be easier to convict but he isn’t a slam dunk. The target has to be Chauvin. His callous disregard for Floyd’s safety is there for all to see right on his face.
If the prosecutor can PROVE Chauvin did that to kill him murder 2 will fly. I doubt that can be proved even if it was the case. It would be much easier to prove that Chauvin wanted to abuse Floyd and that abuse led to death. Given the reckless negligence shown after Floyd became unresponsive 40 years should be easy to get.
Plan on lots of court delays from the defense, hoping by the time this comes to trial, all will have forgotten about this travesty.
Change of venue? Where would they move it? Antarctica?
I wonder if the defense lawyer for Chauvin is looking at a bench trial?
And my other questions would be:
They put Floyd in the car, they took Floyd out of the car. I don’t remember see all the surveillance footage of how Floyd got pinned to car, on the street, and with Chauvin’s knee on his neck.
Why did they take Floyd out of the car? How long were they going to keep him pinned to to ground? Who was it of the 4 officers that called EMT? Why did Chauvin and the other 2 officers keep Floyd in that position once EMT was called? Do police officers have a duty to make sure that people they handcuff are not in danger of choking, or other health concerns?
Are they going to discus the officer’s responsibilities for those they have placed in “legal custody” as it regard to health and safety?
And it may be a battle of the coroner’s reports.
Hey does anyone know if Scott Brown is still the US Ambassador to NZ? If he is was he cowering behind the curtains when this happened outside the embassy?
“This is not a shoo-in,” said Mike Brandt, a Minnesota defense attorney. “There are lots of lines prosecutors have to connect. If you raise questions about even one, you could raise reasonable doubts.”
As a complete layman in this, the video seems pretty good at removing reasonable doubt.
You’re forgetting that we now live in the time of “You’re not really seeing what you think you’re seeing”.
And then I was listening to a program this afternoon and this case was discussed by the Albequerque DA, who had to recuse herself in this case but appointed a special prosecutor to try the officers that shot James Boyd.
There was body/helmet camera video of the officer’s interaction.
Nah, it takes only one of 12, and the defense will try to have the video excluded as prejudicial. Maybe make a federal case of it in 2021 with a biden DoJ.
Sad but there is truth there.
The program I was listening to was Snap Judgement. And within this one story there was an explanation on how cops never got tried for excessive force or killing civilians in New Mexico. It explained how the police worked against the Albuquerque DA by going to the State AG, and all this while this case was going on.
There’s video.
They just keep doing it....
— Derenic Byrd (@DerenicByrd) June 6, 2020
Teen choked and arrested for selling water in Las Vegas....#BlackLivesMatter
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