"Guilty Until Proven Innocent?"
Starting Monday. March 29th, Derek Chauvin, the cop seen kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in the now infamous video, has been put on trial in the Hennepin District Court. Chauvin is being charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. This high profile trial has already had a couple of bumps, with a juror member being dismissed, and over $1 million having to be spent on extra defenses for the courthouse. Nevertheless, the trial is finally on, so here is a quick overview of what we know so far.
Chauvin is being prosecuted by Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison, who plans to stake his case on the testimony of a slew of witnesses and of course, the now infamous video. Seeking to get Chauvin, for at most, a second-degree murder charge would require him to prove that Chauvin caused Floyd's death while committing or attempting to commit a related felony, in this case third-degree assault. However, Ellison believes he can get Chauvin on at least second-degree manslaughter, as all he has to do is prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin caused Floyd's death by "culpable negligence”, meaning using an unreasonable force to consciously risk serious injury or death to Mr. Floyd.
Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense attorney, plans to base his case on the allegation that Mr. Floyd ingested drugs in order to hide them from the police, and combined with his serious heart problems, caused the cardiac arrhythmia that ended his life. This claim is most strongly supported by the medical examiners report, which states the cause of death not as asphyxiation, but as “heart and lungs stopped functioning while being restrained." It is easy to see how that vague and open ended conclusion, along with the note in the report finding that Floyd had relatively large amounts of fentanyl in his blood (along with traces of methamphetamine) can potentially give Nelson a foundation to build his case upon.
The Judge overseeing the case, Peter Cahill, known for his decisiveness and fairness, has already made the headlines after allowing cameras to film every aspect of the trial, adding, "[the] only way to vindicate the defendants' constitutional right to a public trial and the media's and public's constitutional rights of access to criminal trials is to allow audio and video coverage of the trial."
The trial is expected to take at least 4 weeks, as the jury of 13 must reach a unanimous decision, “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
The country holds its breath.
