Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will reportedly announce on Wednesday that he is elevating charges against the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck as he struggled to breathe. Ellison will also announce charges against the three other officers involved in Floyd’s death, according to the Star Tribune.
I have had a back and forth with other posters on this and think this is 110% the right move. To add come legal context, Murder 2 requires a showing of “intent” to kill - which is SUBJECTIVE. Prosecutors need to show that Chauvin formed the “intent” to kill Floyd at some point before Floyd died.
Absent some other evidence (e.g. something in the past - remember that Chauvin and Floyd worked together at a bar) to show a reason why Chauvin would want to kill Floyd, it is going to be very hard to convince a jury that the death was intentional. Note that the act of Chauvin keeping his knee on Floyd was dangerous, and might lead to death, but that is Murder 3, not murder 2. It does not show intent by itself.
However, in the big picture, prosecutors almost always over charge. They may not take those charges to the jury (i.e. drop before trial) and instead use them as leverage. That a Cop is involved, and the DA does not seek the higher charge really stands out to me. I think the DA Freeman fueled the riots by doing something different with Chauvin than he would have done in a normal case, and the logical reason - a cop is involved - is just wrong.
Ellison is doing what Freeman should have done from the start - charge murder 2 as to Chauvin, and probably negligent manslaughter for the other 3 officers. I think this is what Ellison would have done from the start, but he had to spend some time coming up with something more to overrule the FUBAR decision from the 74 year old White DA.
And to add a key detail to this: Here is Tribe’s take:
And what Tribe describes as a quirk in MN law (i.e. the statute does not say this, facially what Chauvin did seems to fit Murder 3 more closely) is what I recall CA law is - death resulting from a dangerous criminal act apart from the murder itself, which results in death is Murder 2 or what is called “Felony-Murder”
This really is the better theory, and if Tribe is right (full disclosure I have not pulled or read the cases) then it makes what Freeman did initially all the more suspicious.
ThIs was written in 2015 but it is relevant. It gives context to what Ellison is up against as prosecutor for Floyd case. Kroll is current head of Minneapolis police union. Arredondo is now police chief. Excerpt:
“Kroll was named in a 2007 racial discrimination lawsuit against the department that was brought by five black officers — including current deputy chief Medaria Arradondo — after Kroll reportedly called U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison a terrorist and made disparaging comments about a gay aide to former Mayor R.T. Rybak in front of several other high-ranking commanders.“ ~Star Tribune.
This is how this should have been handled from the beginning. However I don’t think the events of the last week would have been any different.
Thousands of protestors chant ‘I can’t breathe’ for nine minutes at Colorado’s Capitol
https://twitter.com/COTimesRecorder/status/1266815884737249280 (video)
The president of the Minneapolis police union has written to its members calling George Floyd a “violent criminal”, describing those protesting over his death as terrorists and criticizing the city’s political leadership for not authorizing greater use of force to stop the rioting.
I think Floyd’s stature, 6’6” 200#, race & criminal background create intent for ChauvIn. ChauvIn moonlighted as inside security for over decade at club Floyd was recently hired as bouncer. As LEO it is reasonable believe ChauvIn did background check simply based on his race & stature which would be intimidating to many men, let alone one with racial bias. Making ChauvIn aware of his criminal background. And creating inhumane bias against Floyd in his mind. An ex-con gets no respect as human being from LEO.
ChauvIn was not arresting office. Lane & Keug had handcuffed Floyd & he was sitting on wall as they ran his docs. It is reasonable to believe that ChauvIn as responding officer knew who suspect was once those docs were ran. ChauvIn knew the suspect & planned to kill Floyd when he arrived. It may be “circumstantial evidence” but that is for defense to prove.
Lt. Troll is a disgrace to the badge.
He wants a conviction. So do I. I 'm told that prosecutors must be careful not to “overfile”. Juries pick up on that and may not like it.
Sorry, but why is Klobuchars Tweet as much of the article as the actual newsworthy event?
Don’t we all already know she lost the Veepstakes?
Kroll is one of those white man who are desperately clinging to the last vestiges of power. Times are changing (albeit not fast enough)…but assholes like Kroll are doing everything they can to claw back the power white men had been born with for generations.
Like any animal that senses doom…they will fight back and are dangerous.
My personal expeience as a civil lawyer is that juries like to split the baby. And those on the criminal side I know believe it helps to have a charge that they can toss out to get a compromise verdict. So at least in my (limited, and on the criminal side second hand) understanding this is not correct.
Read Tribe’s take on this which I just posted.
Ellison has been right to express caution about these charges.
I remember how Dan White played the so-called “Twinkie defense” to get a San Francisco jury to limit his conviction to manslaughter for two premeditated political assassinations.
There are no slam dunks.
What a disgrace Kroll is. It is time for him to retire, turn in his badge and fire arm and live quietly near some outpost on a lake and never be heard from again. Minneapolis PD may need to start over from scratch if Kroll exemplifies the caliber of the force.
I’ve been back and forth on this but I agree it should be Murder 2. I’m not a lawyer and have no specific knowledge of similar cases, but:
There were several onlookers during the Floyd murder. I remember one clearly yelling “you’re going to kill him”. So at the very least Chauvin was being informed in real time that what he was doing was leading to murder, as he was doing it. I guess they could argue that what the bystanders were yelling was unimportant, or that he didn’t hear them.
The tweet is the first declaration from any one up in Minnesota…
The formal press conference hasn’t happened yet.
Go Keith!
LIGHT 'EM UP!!!
Another one right out of central casting…
They can split the baby only if they have the chance to do so.
ETA: Jurors on these cases are notorious for self-selecting – either to convict or to be the hold out.
He was working with Right Wing Republican Legislators to undermine our Democratic Governor as well. He was at Donald’s rally here wearing a Cops for Trump tee shirt after the city stopped Cops from attending in uniform. He’s a piece of sh—work.
They think they’re gonna win this state for Donald. They’re wrong.
That was a very, very different era. Dan White would have died with a shank in his back in prison, not of his own hand, had he been tried 20 let alone 30 years later.
San Francisco has changed enormously - as has the jury pool - since 1979. In 1979 jurors were overwhelmingly white and relatively conservative, White’s jury was conservative white/asian,mostly women. And the diminished capacity instruction at the time was far more favorable to White than it would be today.
Here is a good take on the “defense”
https://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Myth-of-the-Twinkie-defense-The-verdict-in-2511152.php