Chauvin lawyer asks for a new trial
I think Chauvin very much deserves one. And it shouldn’t be in Minneapolis, either. Having followed his trial closely, and written about it at length, I’ve been convinced for a long time that his trial was anything but fair.
Early on in the document, Joseph [Chauvin’s attorney] notes that five years have passed since Chauvin’s high-profile trial and convictions, enough time for the emotion that surrounded Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests to subside.
“This Court is removed from the hysteria of the day and can finally look at the facts and evidence through a clear lens,” the documents read. “It is the first time a judicial officer can view the case without the pressure of the public mood.”
Unfortunately, although five years have indeed passed, I don’t think we’re nearly removed enough from “the pressure of the public mood.” That may be especially true in Minneapolis, where the hysteria – and threats – always ran very high and hot. Will any judge there have the guts, even now, to go against that? I doubt it. And if Chauvin loses this fight in state court, will an appeal to SCOTUS be heard? His last appeal was denied such a hearing.
Nevertheless:
While wide-ranging, the crux of the appeals argument boils down to four major assertions by the defense:
– That then-Minneapolis Police Chief Maderia Arrandono, Inspector Katie Blackwell, and training coordinator Lt. Johnny Mercil allegedly lied on the stand when they said the “hobble” technique used by Chauvin to control Floyd was not part of MPD training and therefore a violation of department policy.
– The defense argues that state experts testified on the cause of Floyd’s death based not on his autopsy or medical tests, but on what they had seen in videotapes from the scene at 38th and Chicago.
– Prosecutors allegedly abused videotaped evidence, using it despite its lack of a medical foundation. The defense cited the findings of Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, who testified that severe heart disease and the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system played a major role in Floyd’s death. Baker’s testimony said he found no sign of asphyxiation.
– That jurors were given faulty instructions by Judge Peter Cahill, including misstatements of law.The documents reference a book written by journalist Liz Collin and Dr. JC Chaix that is critical of Chauvin’s trial and conviction, and say that since it was published in 2022, 34 current and former MPD officers have come forward to provide sworn statements saying the knee-to-neck restraint used by Chauvin to subdue Floyd was part of their training.
“Not only was the knee-to-neck/upper shoulder restraint trained, its use was common knowledge and part of MPD policy,” one wrote.
I can attest to the fact that the technique was certainly part of the online manual/information for the policy of the Minneapolis police, at least at first. I saw it there myself shortly after Floyd’s death, but it was erased a while later. I had taken notes, however (I should have taken a screen shot, I suppose), and in August of 2020 I wrote this post on the subject. Read it and you’ll see what I mean.
One of the many terrible results of the Floyd death and the Chauvin trial was that health authorities showed themselves to be complete hypocrites. While the country was mostly locked down to a large extent, and in many places people weren’t even allowed to gather in groups outside, the health authorities announced that protests against Floyd’s death were just fine and well worth any possible health hazards. This added to the profound distrust so many people now have for health authorities.
Yes, Chauvin was the scape goat for a cowardly state and city government. It was a righteous arrest and proper restraint procedure. The video was an over-the-top emotional experience for anyone who didn’t view the entire video of the encounter between Floyd and the police. Which, unfortunately, few seem to have taken the time to do.
That the MPD erased the restraining technique from their training manual is outrageous and cowardly.
Chauvin’s trial was an assault on the fairness of our justice system. Anyone who isn’t frightened by the way he was railroaded isn’t paying attention.
After watching the massive Floyd protests that didn’t lead to huge numbers of new Covid infections, I knew the virus was not as infectious as was being claimed. That whole summer of protests and misinformation by health authorities remains as an example of mass hysteria and the madness of crowds.
A real stain on the history of this country, IMO.
Yes. Floyd and Minneapolis injustice with Chauvin (and fellow officers) strikes me as an evil commensurate with the movie “Mississippi Burning,” based on the struggle for black rights against a racist establishment, mostly made up of whites.
Such are vile deeds in the California of the North.
Yes. Floyd and Minneapolis injustice with Chauvin (and fellow officers) strikes me as an evil commensurate with the movie “Mississippi Burning,” based on the struggle for black rights against a racist establishment, mostly made up of whites.
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Not seeing the analogy. A claque of people abducted and murdered three members of the Congress of Racial Equality in Philadelphia, MS. The Mississippi state courts proved useless (and the local sheriff’s department employed at least one of the conspirators), so they were tried in federal court on civil rights charges. They served maddeningly short sentences for a triple murder, but they were punished. (One of the ringleaders was eventually tried in state court and sent up for life).
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Neither Chauvin nor the other offices did anything wrong. A scrum of figures in Minnesota’s legal establishment (including the presiding judge) contrived to put a blatantly innocent man in prison for decades. These figures will never be punished.
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I’m reminded of the Rodney King case. A college fraternity brother of mine who was on the LAPD at the time told me that during the traffic stop King (a) had disobeyed direct commands, (b) was belligerent, combative, and uncooperative, and (c) displayed behaviors consistent with PCP intoxication. The passenger in his vehicle, who did as he was told to do, was unharmed during the arrest.
BTW, the full video of incident never got played on any of the L.A. area news outlets that I’m aware of. The original jury in Simi Valley criminal trial, who presumably did see the entire video, returned an acquittal. Then George Bush 41 had to wade into the matter and opine that he thought the cops were guilty. We all know what happened after that.
I have prayed that Officer Chauvin would someday be vindicated, released, and compensated, to the extent that is possible, for the injustice and his suffering.
Hopeful, but not optimistic. I see nothing in the state of Minnesota that gives me confidence that they will do the right thing.
Although my politics typically differed, my travels once led me to think of the Upper Mid-West as an area characterized by pleasant people who were upstanding citizens. Present day Minnesota has erased that image.
I’d like to see this appeal succeed, but I am pessimistic that it will.
The treatment of Derek Chauvin is one of the greatest injustices I have seen in my life! I pray that he will receive justice, which would start (but not end) with pardons.
I also hope that Dr. Karma pays visits to the many scoundrels who facilitated this atrocity!
“Minnesota Nice” is dead!
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Today I encountered online for the first time the expression “Wisconsin Nice”. I was looking up the acronym FIB, which stands for F***ing Illinois Bastards.
See “juror 52” in the Feeding Our Future scam trial. The org tracked one juror to her home and handed over $120k in cash with promises of more if an acquittal.
Juror security might be a concern for jurors.
ABC News, almost before the dust settled, said that the restraint as understood at the time had been used 250 times earlier without problems.
Like to see somebody review their subsequent coverage.
I think that Chauvin did not get anything like a fair trial, and that may have not been possible when the entire country was burning and socially destroyed by the insane Covid policies. We need a clear factual resolution on the question of whether the shoulder restraint was considered an appropriate technique under police procedures as they existed at that time.
That said, I think he showed negligence when he didn’t check on Floyd after he clearly became unresponsive. I surmise that he was intent on tuning out the agitation from the crowd, which is necessary up to a point. It also had fluff-all to do with race, but as we know, the revolutionary Left has a multi-layered infrastructure that springs into action when they perceive a way to inflame the public.
This would never have become what it did without the government dismantling our society over Covid, leaving millions of people without purpose and in a place of anxiety and despair.
The Chauvin “trial” is a textbook case of railroading an innocent cop.
(Hope I’m wrong but I don’t think that his chances for true justice are good. Maybe DJT will pardon him, but that would not constitute a legal victory even though it may prove the only way.)
Other textbooks cases of railroading involve the political prosecutions perpetrated by “Biden”’s intensely-aggressively weaponized Department of Justice—weaponized, that is, against perceived political enemies—including, especially, the grimly absurd “trials” against Trump and his associates.
It’s what the Democrats do…and given the opportunity they’ll do it again. And again. And again
(To be sure, they continue to do it—even when they’re out of power—via the media and the courts. Consider it a kind of Jihad: THEY WILL NOT STOP.)
That said, I think he showed negligence when he didn’t check on Floyd after he clearly became unresponsive.
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They’d called an ambulance. The ambulance was late because they initially went to the wrong address.
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What might have helped Floyd was a dose of Narcan, which the officers did not have.
I’m reminded of the Rodney King case.
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In that case, local television news deliberately inflamed local sentiment by refusing to broadcast the opening seconds, when King attacked the officers.
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King was actually beaten by officers, if justly. Nothing was done to Floyd except to detain him. He was placed horizontally on the pavement because he’d been bouncing off the walls in the patrol car. As noted in the autopsy report, his trachea was not compressed. Chauvin’s knee was about 45 degrees around on the back of his neck.
J.J.: “Chauvin’s trial was an assault on the fairness of our justice system. Anyone who isn’t frightened by the way he was railroaded isn’t paying attention.”
Indeed. I’ve called it America’s version of the Dreyfus Affair.
Independently, journalist Jack Cashill has said the same.
The prosecution had dozens of lawyers including outside legal help. Chauvin had one, paid for by the police union.
Trump can only pardon the federal charges, to which Chauvin pleaded guilty, because he had no lawyer to fight them.
To say that the atmosphere was intimidating is the understatement of the century. The national guard was in the streets. The courthouse was fenced off like a fortress. Jurors had to see that every day on the way in. It was very clear to everyone that a not guilty verdict meant more rioting, and some businesses had already been looted, repaired and looted again.
One three times–it was one I serviced. They now have plywood numbered and drilled in the basement, just in case. Every store I serviced was burned, looted or both. Drugstores got it twice.
There is no way another trial in Minneapolis would result in a different verdict. A hung jury, with one or two to acquit, would be the best hope. Moving the trial outstate might get a different result, which is why Keith Ellison would fight that with everything he has.
Agree with Rigeldog that Chauvin was indifferent to Floyd’s increasing feebleness, despite the other cops asking about it. Tough situation: the cops were outnumbered and clearly worried. And had the ambulance come on time–it started less than a mile away–Floyd would have died in the ambulance or ER.
Gordon Scott
I’ve seen reports that Floyd lived half an hour after they got him into the ambulance. Cops providing CPR on the way to the hospital.
Have you seen different reports?
But, given the next best option was the ambulance, the cops on scene had nothing else to do.
Face down is not a good restraining position as it may restrict breathing and have heart issues. Face up is not good as vomitus might be aspirated. On the side is best, except when excitable delirium is a factor. The technique Chauvin used is specifically for that condition…possible violence with, as has been said sometimes, superhuman drug-fueled strength. It’s irrational and can occur in the nearly comatose. The technique was taught to non LE First Responders as well. It has nothing to do with arrests, restraint during resisting arrest, zilch in that line. It is designed to protect everyone on scene including the restrained individual. The downside is pressure on the heart and breathing systems. For most of us, that’s not a problem. People with drug OD are particularly vulnerable. But….excitable delirium has been considered a worse threat.
“I can’t breathe!” became popular after Eric Garner was–not–choked. Presumably good footage if somebody else is recording and may induce a cop to relax his grip in time to make an escape or assault move.
Agree with Rigeldog that Chauvin was indifferent to Floyd’s increasing feebleness,
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You would have had him do what?
No MN judge has the courage to order a new trial. His or her house would be burned to the ground and he or she would never be able to go out in public.
I’ll be asking a NE judge next week to stop a $600m solar project in rural Lancaster County. I hope she has the courage to act.