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Original poster

Chauvin trial re George Floyd - Sky News

291 replies

chilling19 · 31/03/2021 08:42

Is anyone watching this? With the really upsetting and unarguable against video footage I can't see how the defence can build a case. Also the baiting by the defence lawyer of the female EMT witness was horrendous, as was the judge telling her off. She held her ground though, as did the previous child (female) witnesses.

OP posts:
StrangeLookingParasite · 13/04/2021 00:24

[quote pabloescobarselasticband]@ancientgran he wasn't clearly having a panic attack at all (im a medical professional btw) he was behaving erratically because he was high on opiates! He was anxious and paranoid again caused by the substances he had taken. [/quote]
I don't quite understand this point - opiates are a system depressant, aren't they, so people on opiates are slow and sleepy, not agitated. For agitation you would be looking more at stimulants, like meth or amphetamines, wouldn't you?

joangray38 · 13/04/2021 01:46

I use fentanyl patches (legally prescribed) and you do, well I, feel more anxious agitated and excitable on the first day I put on a patch. I then get slower and more lethargic for the next 2 days. That’s why it’s used illegally for the high you get when you first take it

StrangeLookingParasite · 13/04/2021 01:49

Oh, OK. I didn't know much about fentanyl at all. Thanks for the info.

BananaMaltLoaf · 13/04/2021 10:19

I think the defence presents its witnesses today, and the Judge said the jury are going to be sequestered from next Monday.

ancientgran · 13/04/2021 11:03

@pabloescobarselasticband he wasn't clearly having a panic attack at all (im a medical professional btw) he was behaving erratically because he was high on opiates! He was anxious and paranoid again caused by the substances he had taken. It might not be what a medical professional calls a panic attack but I am claustrophobic and I've never taken drugs in my life, I can't even take OTC as they make me sick, and I'd be just like him.

I had a broken ankle and couldn't even cope with a plaster cast so they had to cut it off. If I was handcuffed, particularly with my hands behind my back I would be out of control.

Have you any phobias? I don't think you have an understanding of claustrophobia, lots of people think it is just about a confined space but it is much more than that.

ancientgran · 13/04/2021 11:05

Just to be clear they cut the plaster cast off not the ankle! That would be a bit extreme.

BananaMaltLoaf · 13/04/2021 17:57

It was not legal opiates and we heard earlier that the last batch he had with his partner caused agitation. His medical report also listed anxiety.

Anyway what I took from the recent testimonies were that the agitation didn't justify the level of force applied.

GizmoBasil · 13/04/2021 20:25

Everyone should read this.

In 2017, Chauvin knelt on a 14 year old boys neck for so long he cried for his mother and said 'I can't breathe'

The fact the press have told us more about Floyds past character, as if that excuses us, more than Chauvins, proves without any doubt the systematic racism that still exists in the USA.

And I say that as a white police officer.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.mprnews.org/amp/story/2020/11/18/prosecutors-14yearold-boy-cried-mom-as-chauvin-knelt-on-his-back-for-17-minutes

BananaMaltLoaf · 13/04/2021 21:30

There is another testimony on use of force, this one bought by the Defense.

Bedsheets4knickers · 13/04/2021 23:00

[quote GizmoBasil]Everyone should read this.

In 2017, Chauvin knelt on a 14 year old boys neck for so long he cried for his mother and said 'I can't breathe'

The fact the press have told us more about Floyds past character, as if that excuses us, more than Chauvins, proves without any doubt the systematic racism that still exists in the USA.

And I say that as a white police officer.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.mprnews.org/amp/story/2020/11/18/prosecutors-14yearold-boy-cried-mom-as-chauvin-knelt-on-his-back-for-17-minutes[/quote]
That's very telling . Do you know if they can use this ?
If I've read right it says the defence are not wanting it seem as it's in the past . Seems unfair as all day they have brought up GF past .

StarCat2020 · 14/04/2021 05:00

Do you know if they can use this ?
Usually under English law the answer would be no but every state in the US has its own laws

NewlyGranny · 14/04/2021 05:41

I understand the prosecution cannot bring this up except under cross questioning of the defendant, which is why Chauvin almost certainly won't be giving evidence. I doubt we'll ever know what was going through his mind. I doubt we'd know even if he did give evidence, frankly.

The defence has a nice line in victim blaming and blame-shifting generally. Everyone is entitled to their defence and I am sure Mr Nelson is doing his level best but it must be a living nightmare having to stand up and say the things he is reduced to saying.

Does anyone know why Chauvin is not in prison orange with escort and handcuffed? Is it because he was bailed? I expect there will be mention at some point of what a white police officer convicted of killing a black man is likely to experience in the prison system.

Will there be a hint of remorse somewhere? I'm not optimistic.

StarCat2020 · 14/04/2021 05:58

Does anyone know why Chauvin is not in prison orange with escort and handcuffed?
Because it would prejudice him if he was made to look like a criminal.

(I am saying that is the reason not what I think of him)

StarCat2020 · 14/04/2021 05:59

Will there be a hint of remorse somewhere?
Right now, remorse would be advised against I believe as you can only be sorry when you have done something wrong (and he is saying that he didn't).

I hope that I am making sense (but I am not sure that I am)

Tibtom · 14/04/2021 07:04

The defence has a nice line in victim blaming and blame-shifting generally. Everyone is entitled to their defence and I am sure Mr Nelson is doing his level best but it must be a living nightmare having to stand up and say the things he is reduced to saying.

Just look at how victims are treated in rape trials...

lboogy · 14/04/2021 18:45

I've been watching this closely and I don't think the defence is doing a good job. All the experts they've brought on in cross have basically said to force was excessive. Some guy yesterday tried to say someone complying would be resting comfortably and not moving if officers were on top of them. Common sense says your instinct is to try and find a position where you can breath if someone is sitting their weight on you. And in his case he had 3 grown men kneeling on him. Of course he's going to wriggle about trying to get air.

NewlyGranny · 14/04/2021 18:46

"Paraganglionoma" repeatedly from David Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist. I only learned the word this week but even I know it's a paraganglioma. And he's included "potential carbon monoxide" from the squad car's exhaust as one of the causes of death, but not the left knee on the neck or the right knee on the back. 🤷🏼‍♀️

BananaMaltLoaf · 14/04/2021 20:54

I really had difficulty with yesterdays witness. However he did draw attention to the fact Chauvin failed to respond to the pain which was evident.

Todays pathologist said that if someone is short of breath, they slow down and stop.

Well I can say that's simply impossible to say. I have a lung condition and the first time my lung collapsed I suddenly lost 50% of lung function and without realising I exerted myself running. I most definitely did not calm my breathing down, with my heart pounding I gulped as much air as I could, it wasn't even a choice. Yes I stopped moving aside from trying to breathe, but if someone was stopping me trying to breathe I sure as hell would have done everything I could to physically get air. It's not oh I overdid it I'll slow down, which we have all done, it's a huge panic with one aim of surviving, in some ways made more frightening because you don't know what it is because you haven't experienced it before, and that is where I believe Chauvin gets his kicks, putting the fear in people.

Original poster
chilling19 · 14/04/2021 23:21

There is simply no defence.

OP posts:
StarCat2020 · 15/04/2021 03:28

There is simply no defence
Surely it is best if the defence goes through the motions and then he is found guilty rather than giving him an opportunity to claim an unfair trial later?

Original poster
chilling19 · 15/04/2021 09:44

Yes it is better to go through the trial, but it is painful to watch.

OP posts:
NewlyGranny · 15/04/2021 12:07

Seeing a defence cobbled together from cobwebs and an expert witness with eyes as dead as the defendant's is chilling, but nothing like how people will feel if he is found not guilty. And the jury must reach a unanimous decision; if they don't we're looking at a re-trial.

BananaMaltLoaf · 15/04/2021 15:49

As it concludes I do not envy the jury. They've been repeatedly advised that Chauvins decision not to testify (under 5th Amendment) is not admission of guilt nor should have any bearing. He is presumed innocent as is the legal system and its down to the state to convince them he is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

NewlyGranny · 15/04/2021 18:43

The summons up on Monday will be critical. The prosecution doesn't have to prove Chauvin was the sole cause of death, just the major one, which they've done pretty effectively.

Does anyone really think that if Floyd hadn't been restrained in that fashion for that length of time he would just have dropped dead without any further interference? That's the question.

NewlyGranny · 15/04/2021 18:45

The summings up! Autocorrect did not like that word. 😏