The Chauvin Trial

Get ready. There is a reasonably good chance that Derek Chauvin will be exonerated from at least one and possibly all three of the murder charges against him in the death of George Floyd.

And if he is, who knows what will happen. A lot depends on how much of what is presented at court is made public.

When video footage of the incident went viral, there was almost universal agreement that Floyd had been willfully and cruelly murdered by Chauvin. For nine horrific minutes, we witnessed the scene. An armed policeman, squatting next to a handcuffed black man lying on the ground, casually putting his weight on his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck, while the latter cries out, repeatedly, that he cannot breathe. This despite witnesses shouting that the man in custody was losing consciousness.

The death sparked outrage, which led to months of protests and violence and to the deaths of more than a dozen people and the destruction of millions of dollars in property.

And now the trial is here. And everyone is watching.

Based on the video, there seems to be little doubt that this incident was, at the very least, a case of second-degree (involuntary manslaughter) murder. But when you consider the fact that the cop was White and the victim was Black, you would have to ask yourself: If Floyd were White, would he be alive now?

I think it’s fair to say that the great majority – probably 90+% – of Americans expect Chauvin to be convicted of all three counts. And that’s because 90+% – of Americans know nothing more about the incident than what was shown on the video.

Chauvin has been charged with 3 crimes: unintentional, second-degree murder… third-degree murder… and second-degree manslaughter.

But the prosecution has a problem. Two problems:

1. The autopsy revealed that Floyd’s death was due to an extremely lethal dose of fentanyl that he’d injected just before the arrest.
2. And as horrible and irresponsible as it appeared, Chauvin and his fellow police officers were exactly following the protocols they were required to follow.

Neither of these two facts makes George Floyd’s death less terrible. Just the idea that he was detained and handcuffed for passing a counterfeit $20 bill is ridiculous. And the fact that, despite the fact that he was telling the truth about his claustrophobia, the arresting officers tried to force him in the car and then put him on the ground, face down with his hands cuffed behind his back… that is, in IMHO, completely inexcusable.

There are those and many other facts about this matter that demand a response in terms of policing. But as to the specific charges against Chauvin – I don’t see how he can be convicted.

If the defense can provide good evidence that the cause of Floyd’s death was primarily due to a mental and physical overreaction to the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system, I don’t see how the case can go any further. But even if the prosecution convinces the jury that the primary cause was not the drug but the restraint he was under, there is still the problem of making the case that Chauvin was “culpably responsible.” Because, as I said, he was following police procedure.

My feeling is that the legislature of Minnesota is guilty for allowing people to be arrested for non-violent misdemeanors, and that the Minneapolis police department is guilty of perpetuating outdated and dangerous strategies for dealing with people that resist arrest. And I think that the fact that Chauvin continued to follow “protocol” while it was evident that he might be endangering Floyd’s life makes him guilty of something he should get time for. But I don’t think that what he did meets the definition of any of the murder charges he is being tried for.

We’ll have to see what happens. But if there is any hope of avoiding another summer of outrage and violence, the major media will have to start reporting the truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth – throughout the trial.