'Ignore negligence' or 'tragic accident' for human life? Derek Chouwen is on trial for the murder of George Floyd
In this case, the central question of what is about to begin with the jury selection on Monday is whether what people saw in the
was a murder or a terrible tragedy.
Prosecutors say Floyd, 46, was struck on the knee by Chavin, who pressed Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes when he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground. The defense argues that Floyd's death was the result of his fighting with the police, the drugs in his system, and health problems such as heart disease.
The video, shot by a bisder, went viral and sparked months of protests against racism and police brutality.
Connie Rice said: "The video of the assassination of George Floyd by Chawin was so powerful that other videos did not, reaching an estimated 15 to 20 million white people, one in 25 million protesters nationwide." , A prominent civil rights attorney.
will be everything in this test," she said.
Shawn and Floyd crossed the line after using a fake Flo 20 bill on a convenience store clerk who called 911. As he fell to the ground under Chavin, Floyd yelled, "I can't breathe" more than 20 times. He met his mother, who had recently passed away, a dozen times.
Chatwin, 44, is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and could face third-degree murder. The appeals court ruled Friday that the trial court judge should not have refused to reinstate the third-degree murder charge. It is unclear if this will affect the testing schedule.
Three other officers involved in the incident, J. Alexander Keung, Thomas Lane and Tao Thao, have been charged with complicity. All of them were fired last year.
Derek Chuan Trial: What You Should Know About The Trial, Protest, And Coverage
The story continues.
Two autopsies concluded that George Floyd's death was a suicide
The evidence includes two autopsies, one performed by a Hampden County coroner and the other by an independent forensic pathologist at the request of Floyd's family.
They both concluded that Floyd's death was suicide.
The county medical examiner said Floyd's death was the result of cardiac arrest that was "complicated by the subdivision of law enforcement, immobilization, and neck strain." A toxic report showed fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system.
The Federal Armed Forces Medical Forensic System, which reviewed the autopsy, said "there are elements of positional and mechanical distress in the flank and resistance."
An autopsy by the family revealed that Floyd had died of suffocation due to pressure on his neck and back.
Although coroners agreed that Floyd's death was suicide, the "method" of death remains a big question, said Mary Moritte, a former Hampden County public defender.
"He got mad about the position, because of the knee? Did the knee cut the blood from his brain?" She said she.
Somal Trivedi, lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, expects an "expert fight" over the autopsy, and the defense argues that Floyd's death was caused by a drug overdose, not by his throat, since Chawin's knee.
Ted Simple Simple Jones, a professor at Mitchell Hamline College of Law in neighboring St. Paul's, said the defense could say that Chavin was trying to subdue Floyd and did not know he was in danger.
"If I were a defense attorney, I would say, 'It was really a horrible and tragic accident, but it wasn't the result that Chavin wanted,'" he said.
Derek Chauvin's George Floyd: "It takes a lot of oxygen to say things."
Moriarty said Floyd's death would cause problems for the defense by proving a drug overdose.
"By law, you find your prey," she said. It doesn't matter if George Floyd (later) died in large numbers. The important thing is that Chavin's knee is on him and his condition caused his death.
Moriarty said the prosecution needed to show that Chatwin "knew better." Experts say the prosecution must prove that Chatwin deliberately committed a crime, the Floyd attack, which inadvertently caused his death.
A lawyer describes prosecutors, including children, who are watching and pleading with Chatwin to stop, but he "threw back his knees, hitting Floyd on the neck." He pressed and held the pressure on Floyd's breath "even after he limped.
Derek Shawn, a former Minneapolis police officer, faces charges of secondary murder and genocide.
The prosecution intends to present the body camera video to the four officers. One, according to court records, shows Chavin rejecting Floyd's pleas, telling him, "You're talking too much,
you're yelling too much. It takes a lot of oxygen to say things. "
Chavin ignored calls from the crowd to find out if Floyd was breathing. Instead, he asked Floyd
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