Chauvin Trial Commentary

[Black_Sheep]

Chauvin appeared to be more focused on the increasingly hostile crowd that was gathering, instead of focusing on GF’s deteriorating condition.

[WillBrink]

As will be introduced later, GF pulls this same sh&t, including saying he can’t breathe, every time he is arrested. You’ve hit it perfectly with your last sentence.

The fentanyl is reasonable doubt as to the cause of death, period. Had the officers acted appropriately, GF would still be dead, but we wouldn’t have this whole Murder trial to deal with... THATs the difference. It’s not right, but it’s the situation we have now.

There are a lot of non LE here just digging their heals in on the side of the officers... ok fine, some LE here to share the same opinion.

But there are also several LE here who have tried their best to explain why some of these actions were not OK.

That is a clue to how complicated this whole mess is, how it relates to MN law, and ultimately what the outcome will be.

I will play devils advocate only to say we don't actually know that, but we can say there's again, reasonable doubt that it's a distinct possibility by his tox report.

Chauvin appeared to be more focused on the increasingly hostile crowd that was gathering, instead of focusing on GF’s deteriorating condition.

Can you blame him? Does he wanna take a rock to the face due to focusing on if the guy who'd been yelling "I can't breath" since being put in the back of the car while having his panic attack was not actually breathing? 9 mins is and was a long time, but I also have no doubt time goes by quickly in such a situation, and no doubt, he should have turned him on his side and checked him out. But, he didn't. Intentional, negligent but not intentional, or just a bad outcome to a tough situation caused and created by GF?

I guess that's now for the jury to decide.

[mrbieler]

The whole thing is a shit show. George Floyd was a bad guy doing bad things. Folks like typically don't have a track record of living long. That said, I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Chauvin and the other officers involved contributed to shortening his life cycle. What gets done about that is where the waters get very muddy. Someone died and that's not OK for passing a funny $20 and hiding some drugs. If we're going to be OK with that, there will be a lot of things that need to be sorted out.

The race card is obviously a huge part of this. The Tony Timpa death is already ancient history and, to me, that's even worse. We had officers on film/tape mocking the guy as he died. But he was white and it was Texas. It didn't stay a hot issue very long.

Timpa and Floyd died due to drugs use and casual indifference from the officers involved in the arrest. Both guys were going to die sooner rather than later, but no one can say that day was then. Both guys died at the hands of officers who shrugged and just saw them as one more POS they deal with every day. Going to be very difficult to get me to believe Chauvin was thinking about much more than what's for lunch as he pinned Floyd to the ground. The legal vs moral dilemma on what to do about that is a difficult conversation.

[Black_Sheep]

Can you blame him? Does he wanna take a rock to the face due to focusing on if the guy who'd been yelling "I can't breath" since being put in the back of the car while having his panic attack was not actually breathing? 9 mins is and was a long time, but I also have no doubt time goes by quickly in such a situation, and no doubt, he should have turned him on his side and checked him out. But, he didn't. Intentional, negligent but not intentional, or just a bad outcome to a tough situation caused and created by GF?

I guess that's now for the jury to decide.

My point was exactly that, to a degree the crowd was interfering with the officers doing their job. The amateur MMA guy stands out as one of the most vocal witnesses at the scene.

[Adrenaline_6]

The whole thing is a shit show. George Floyd was a bad guy doing bad things. Folks like typically don't have a track record of living long. That said, I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Chauvin and the other officers involved contributed to shortening his life cycle. What gets done about that is where the waters get very muddy. Someone died and that's not OK for passing a funny $20 and hiding some drugs. If we're going to be OK with that, there will be a lot of things that need to be sorted out.

The race card is obviously a huge part of this. The Tony Timpa death is already ancient history and, to me, that's even worse. We had officers on film/tape mocking the guy as he died. But he was white and it was Texas. It didn't stay a hot issue very long.

Timpa and Floyd died due to drugs use and casual indifference from the officers involved in the arrest. Both guys were going to die sooner rather than later, but no one can say that day was then. Both guys died at the hands of officers who shrugged and just saw them as one more POS they deal with every day. Going to be very difficult to get me to believe Chauvin was thinking about much more than what's for lunch as he pinned Floyd to the ground. The legal vs moral dilemma on what to do about that is a difficult conversation.

Ummm....no. He didn't die for passing a funny $20 bill and hiding some drugs. Not at all. He died for being a dumbass and swallowing said drugs which was lethal. Tell me who had total control over that said action and tell me what part of this the officer had control over? This is what should matter...period...full stop.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Because the only reason they called EMS in the first place was because they were going to hobble him and they are not allowed to transport hobbled suspects in their vehicles, combined with Floyd saying he couldn’t breath prior to them putting him on the ground.

That's interesting. The only thing I heard was testimony from the paramedic who said they were responding to a code 2 for a person with a mouth bleed, so I just assumed that's why EMS was called. Then upgraded to a code 3 but I cannot recall hearing anything specific as to why is was upgraded.

[mrbieler]

Ummm....no. He didn't die for passing a funny $20 bill and hiding some drugs. Not at all. He died for being a dumbass and swallowing said drugs which was lethal. Tell me who had total control over that said action and tell me what part of this the officer had control over? This is what should matter...period...full stop.

Total control? The officers over a suspect who was handcuffed. The dumbass didn’t die in a vacuum. He died in their custody under their control. Full stop.

[eightmillimeter]

That's interesting. The only thing I heard was testimony from the paramedic who said they were responding to a code 2 for a person with a mouth bleed, so I just assumed that's why EMS was called. Then upgraded to a code 3 but I cannot recall hearing anything specific as to why is was upgraded.

The information the medics got was not was what was discussed by the officers. There is a 57 page transcript of all officers and GF during the interaction based on body cam audio which makes this much more clear.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

That was the first thing I noticed when I watched the video. The junkie was stating he couldn’t breathe well before he was placed on the ground.

Does that help the defense or prosecutors? Keeping someone pinned down in the prone position who is not actively resisting and been repeatedly complaining about not being able to breath since early during the arrest doesn't seem like something for the defense to crow about.

[Vandal]

Total control? The officers over a suspect who was handcuffed. The dumbass didn’t die in a vacuum. He died in their custody under their control. Full stop.

He died because he chose to stuff a bunch of pills into his mouth as the police were making initial contact. Police who were called because he was trying to buy smokes with a fake $20. Floyd bears the responsibility for his own death. As you said, he "didn't die in a vacuum". He died of his own very poor decision making by ingesting a lethal cocktail of illicit drugs. Had Floyd not chosen to commit a crime that day, he'd possibly still be alive. He chose to actively resist arrest, he chose to fight to not be put in the car claiming claustrophobia, then chose to keep fighting on the ground.

They didn't have Narcan and fun fact, even then sometimes Narcan't. Something I've seen in person more than I'd like. Oddly, the prosecution still hasn't touched on cause of death. Likely because it will nuke their politically driven case. The medical training of cops is very limited, that isn't their job.

For another poster, medics were called for a code 2 response because Floyd was bleeding from the mouth and face due to his actions as he actively resisted arrest. They were not called because Floyd was going to be put in leg restraints.