Chauvin trial re George Floyd - Sky News

@Tibtom

That all depends on the prosecutor and then the judge agreeing to the change in plea. It’s unlikely they would allow a plea bargain in this case I think, because they’ve already put so much time into the trial and he’s very unlikely to be acquitted.

It must be hard as a defence lawyer when you can see your case is in crumbs and all the witnesses are damning but yoir client won't budge. I guess it must be fairly common though. How late can you do a plea bargain? You often hear abouts that in the American courts?

As for the defence lawyer, I think he has given up on some level. Witness after witness has sat, puzzled, through his cross-examination, unable to ask what they are clearly thinking: "What on earth are you getting at? Where are you going with this line of questioning? What is it you are trying to get me to say?!"

In a way, I wish the defendant would come to the stand. I don't expect he will. What interests me is whether, while he's note-taking or doodling or whatever it is he's doing with pen and paper, he's also taking anything in. I can't help but think it must have begun to dawn on him, as Dr Tobin was speaking, just what had really happened to George Floyd and what he, Chauvin, had done.

Perhaps the writing activity is a mechanism to block thoughts, though, or surely he'd be burying his head in his hands in anguish, like so many of us watching who weren't personally responsible in the way Chauvin is.

I could see the compassion in Tobin's face and hear it in his voice alright, though. Imagine decades of struggling to save lives and failing 40% of the time and then watching a street crucifixion where someone dies by having the breath squeezed out of them cubic centimetre by cubic centimetre. 😭

To be fair to the defence lawyer, he can't just give up and say "you got me there!" unless his client decides to change his plea.

One thing that shocks me about the American justice system, which hasn't applied in this case, is how long people seem to be in jail for pre-court. So people who may be innocent are locked up for years before they can show this.

Discussion about low oxygen from the autopsy expert v interesting.

I've been glued to this trial . Tobin destroyed the defence yesterday. They gave up pretty quick . I can't see what another 2 weeks will achieve. Yesterday sealed it in my eyes anyway .

So embarrassed for my country.

If Chauvin is found not guilty, right there is the proof that black lives are held cheap and really do not matter in the US. The defence cross examination was really scratching for anything to hold on to.

The way I see it, Floyd was lynched for being big and black and male. Chauvin did not like being towered over by a suspect/arrestee. There is an old well-known and deeply-embedded cultural fear in some elements of the white population of large, muscular black men that almost views their bodies as weapons and their minds as malevolent. I think we are seeing the ultimate result of that sort of thinking unfettered.

I can't believe somone actually typed this with a straight face. Re-videos. It shows lack of understanding and naivity to thr whole situation. And the more I type my reply the sadder it makes me feel.

What you don't think people need advice and guidance in how to try and protect themselves when pulled over by the police then? So that there's a chance they might actually get to go home at the end of it? It might not always work, but taking steps to de-escalate the situation can't make things worse. We can't wave a magic wand and suddenly make the police force ok. That takes time. We can take steps to protect ourselves whilst trying to change how the police conduct themselves though. You might think that's sad and naive, I'd call it an attempt at self preservation, having been the victim of police violence myself and considering the steps I now take to reduce the risk of that happening again. Sorry that your reply to my post made you sad though

Also finding today very sad.

I wonder if Chauvin will testify, I mean there is nothing he can say but what a bastard.

Also finding today very sad and feeling angry. Defense is wheeling out the argument that in some people with fentanyl it affects the ability of the chest wall to make it less elastic.

Compulsive and chilling evidence from the pulmonary specialist this afternoon: a completely healthy person subjected to what GF was subjected to would have died. The prosecution went round and systematically closed up every rathole ahead of the defence. Fentanyl - no. Heart disease - no. Pre-existing condition - no.

Tobin was eloquent in his language: not an ounce of oxygen left in his body; his last breath; trying to breathe with his fingers and knuckles. And the slowed down replay of "the moment the life went out of him". I could have wept buckets.

If this case doesn't end in a conviction for murder, nothing a police officer does ever will. Ignorance of what he was causing is not going to excuse him because the vital knowledge clearly informed all the guidance on restraint which he chose not to follow.

You would not kill even a vicious dog like that.

I think they could all go home now, actually, except the one going to prison.

They need to strictly limit it in the US regardless of the outcome of this trial.