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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:
Erkrie · 02/04/2021 14:52

It doesn't change what happened but it might explain why Chauvin thought he could get away with it.

Why would it explain that? It might provide a reason as to why it happened, possibly, but it doesn't provide a reason as to why he would get away with it.

AppleJane · 02/04/2021 15:29

Presumably he knew his history and knew he was a drug user etc. He could of thought a thousand different things. IMO it changes it to murder if he knew him and was motivated by that.

UsedUpUsername · 02/04/2021 15:51

@AppleJane

Presumably he knew his history and knew he was a drug user etc. He could of thought a thousand different things. IMO it changes it to murder if he knew him and was motivated by that.
There were like two other cops kneeled on him, they probably didn’t know the guy at all
AppleJane · 02/04/2021 15:55

I've no idea if any of the other cops worked as bouncers too or even why that's allowed. If they knew him they should be charged with murder too.

BelleHathor · 02/04/2021 17:13

@AppleJane

I've no idea if any of the other cops worked as bouncers too or even why that's allowed. If they knew him they should be charged with murder too.
The man who said they knew each other retracted the statement www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/george-floyd-derek-chauvin-nightclub-bumped-heads-changes-story/ Though when the club burned down the owner confirmed they had both worked for the club but may have not known each other. www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865803157/george-floyd-and-derek-chauvin-were-co-workers-says-former-club-owner?t=1617379843433 Tim Pool did a great breakdown of George Floyd's girlfriends testimony yesterday. m.youtube.com/watch?v=3hmOA6OI9VQ
AppleJane · 02/04/2021 17:36

Thank you @BelleHathor I'll have a good look at those links.

BrandineDelRoy · 02/04/2021 17:37

What you say about conviction is true ancientgran. I couldn't believe it when the cop there who shot Philando Castile got off.

ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 17:49

That Lietenant's testimony was very damning for Chauvin.

ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 17:51

@AppleJane

Presumably he knew his history and knew he was a drug user etc. He could of thought a thousand different things. IMO it changes it to murder if he knew him and was motivated by that.
This isn't small town Mississipi with one sherriff?
CovoidOfAllHumanity · 02/04/2021 18:06

I watched a couple of secs of Tim Pool's video and that was enough to convince me that if his is a popular view in the US then I am very glad I do not live there. Also some of the replies to his tweets

The defence are arguing that a) George Floyd conveniently died of a drug OD at exactly the same time as Chauvin was kneeling on his neck and b) Chauvin was only 'doing as he was told' using a legitimate restraint technique that he had been taught.

Floyd was an admitted opiate addict and had Fentanyl in his system and he had OD before. I still think it beggars belief to think that having their airway compressed for 9 minutes has nothing to do with a persons death. It's arse over tit. The drugs might have made him more likely to die in that scenario but he would still not have died if he had not been restrained like that.

Do they seriously teach them to kneel on people's necks for 9 minutes as a legitimate restraint technique in Minneapolis?
Because in the U.K. it is well known that prolonged prone restraint kills people at least since the death of Rocky Bennet in 1998 and any restraint in that position would be timed and kept to a minimum.

I don't suppose Derek Chauvin set out to or intended to kill George Floyd but he took no care to preserve his life. Floyd's death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of his actions. This is self evident as it was forseen by all those on the street who tried to stop it. Isn't that at least manslaughter (I have no idea what US charges mean)?

LadyWithLapdog · 02/04/2021 18:09

“Why don’t we take a perfectly healthy person who has never had a drink, taken opioids or had a hard life and step on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and see what happens.” (taken off Twitter)

I don’t know how the official verdict will go but I hope those those police officers live in shame and despair at what they’ve done. Maybe also for America to pause and look at itself and its justice system.

ancientgran · 02/04/2021 18:10

@AppleJane

When this case first hit the headlines I read that Floyd and Chauvin both knew each other personally as they had worked together as bouncers. But I've never seen this stated on the news.

Does anyone know if it is true?

It doesn't change what happened but it might explain why Chauvin thought he could get away with it.

I think I read somewhere that they had worked in the same place but didn't really know each other, another member of staff said they did but then admitted she had mixed him up with another black member of staff.
ancientgran · 02/04/2021 18:12

@Tibtom

To me it beggars belief that anyone can seriously suggest that kneeling on a mans neck for 9 minutes has nothing to do with his death. This. Totally shocking.

I wonder if anyone who actually thinks that would like to demonstrate? If they are sure someone kneeling on their neck for 9 minutes wouldn't be a problem it would be OK wouldn't it.

If he died as a result of the drugs then it could have nothing to do with his death but that doesn't mean it is a harmless act in itself. Just as stabbing someone after they had been poison - stabbing is a harmful, violent and potentially fatal act but if the person is already deceased it wouldn't be the cause of death. The defence don't need to sure it was definitely the drugs only that it might have been the drugs.

"But if the person is already deceased it wouldn't be the cause of death." He wasn't already deceased, he was screaming that he couldn't breathe, dead people don't do that.
ancientgran · 02/04/2021 18:18

@pabloescobarselasticband

Im in no way defending the police officer's behaviour but have you actually seen the whole footage from the beginning of the arrest? He was being difficult and they tried to sit him in the car, he refused and demanded to be put on the floor. He was clearly as high as a kite and behaving unpredictably.
Yes I saw it. He was a big man, claustrophobic and with his hands cuffed behind his back. He wasn't "being difficult" he was having a full blown panic attack, he was clearly terrified when they pointed the gun at him, he knew what might happen. Well they got the same result, different weapon.
SunsetBeetch · 02/04/2021 19:04

Surely police officers will be trained to deal with people high on drugs, having a panic attack, etc? It can't be a rare occurrence!

BelleHathor · 02/04/2021 19:19

@SunsetBeetch

Surely police officers will be trained to deal with people high on drugs, having a panic attack, etc? It can't be a rare occurrence!
In the bodycam footage @ 6 mins they asked GF if he was on drugs as he was foaming at the mouth. GF said no. The full video is here (Trigger warning it is uncut and traumatising). A local paper sued to have the bodycam released as the prosecution was refusing and a judge granted release 7 months ago. m.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQYMBALDXc
ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 19:53

@BelleHathor Thanks for sharing that. I could only watch the first few minutes as I have asthma and I've been manhandled by police before. That feeling that you can't breathe can rarely be medically quantified by post mortem tests, yet that is exactly what happens. I suspect panic attacks are similar. I've actually cried for the first time for this man as I had never seen that footage. He reminds me so much of myself.

ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 19:58

Have you ever heard of a report of Death By Panic Attack, Death by Asthma.
No. You have the eventual cause of death listed - not what fucking caused you to die in the first place.

ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 20:01

By the way, I developed asthma as a result of feeling like I was not in control of my environment or safety.

ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 20:02

Anything which threatened my environment or safety were immediate triggers for asthma attacks. You WILL PANIC. You WILL KICK OUT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE.

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 02/04/2021 20:06

Opiate overdose (fentanyl is an opiate like heroin) is very easily and quickly reversible with an injection of a drug called naloxone.

If they are suggesting he was already in the process of dying from an opiate overdose when Chauvin stood on his neck then it still wasn't a forgone conclusion he would inevitably die. If instead of kneeling on his neck he had got him medical help he would not have died.

Also fentanyl is very quick acting and you would stop talking and breathing within seconds to a few minutes so when is he supposed to have managed to take it??

CovidCorvid · 02/04/2021 20:10

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

Opiate overdose (fentanyl is an opiate like heroin) is very easily and quickly reversible with an injection of a drug called naloxone.

If they are suggesting he was already in the process of dying from an opiate overdose when Chauvin stood on his neck then it still wasn't a forgone conclusion he would inevitably die. If instead of kneeling on his neck he had got him medical help he would not have died.

Also fentanyl is very quick acting and you would stop talking and breathing within seconds to a few minutes so when is he supposed to have managed to take it??

From what I read he took it after the police arrived. So at some point between then and being handcuffed.
SmellsLikeWineIGuess · 02/04/2021 20:11

In the Grace Millane murder trial, the jury convicted because after enough time with his hands around her neck, preventing her from breathing, she did indeed stop breathing, but he didn’t remove his hands, so of course she died.

It’s the same thing. Too much time elapsed after Floyd stopped resisting, and then stopped moving, and yet the knee stayed. It stayed on his neck until he died.

However, I will not be in the least bit surprised if justice isn’t served.

My perception very much is - the US is a lawless society. People carry guns and use them willy nilly. Police routinely get away with murder.

From what my kids see of the US in the news - it’s akin to what I used to see growing up, in countries like Northern Ireland, Beirut.

I am being somewhat provocative.

But my point is - the US is not the idyllic, promised land of my youth. It doubt it ever actually was, but these days it absolutely is not. It’s no longer somewhere people look to for any kind of leadership - but certainly not for moral ideals on things like ‘justice’ and ‘democracy’.

If Chavin walks free, America’s standing and respect from the world will continue to plummet.

CovidCorvid · 02/04/2021 20:12

@ismiseeire

Have you ever heard of a report of Death By Panic Attack, Death by Asthma. No. You have the eventual cause of death listed - not what fucking caused you to die in the first place.
According to the CDC there’s approx 4000 deaths a year in the USA with “asthma” given as cause of death.
ismiseeire · 02/04/2021 20:41

According to the CDC there’s approx 4000 deaths a year in the USA with “asthma” given as cause of death.

Presumbably where they are in a hospital setting having being admitted with 'asthma'. A death on the street? Hell no.

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