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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

That said, murder requires intent. The defense is trying to paint a picture of Chauvin distracted by the crowd - all of the cops distracted by the crowd - to make this is a negligent killing - voluntary manslaughter - rather than murder. This is why I think it is entirely likely that the jury will convict on the second degree manslaughter charge but not the two murder charges. And that result will cause a lot of frustration and anger in the larger community.[/quote]

Chauvin is charged with “second degree unintentional” murder, which as you can probably guess from the name does not require intent to kill. It is for an intentional assault that causes the death of another. The third degree murder charges were also recently reinstated after a Noor appellate decision, but I’m still kind of skeptical that will apply here better than 2nd degree unintentional.

After opening statements it doesn’t seem like there is a significant amount of previously unknown evidence that fundamentally alters a lot of the key questions about the already released evidence. There’s been a few revelations and several new angles of video, but I’m not sure it really fundamentally alters things.

The key parts:
1. Dr. Baker (Hennepin county med examiner) testimony on cause/mechanism of death - we already know the basic findings but this is probably going to be main focus of the defense and might sow reasonable doubt depending on what is unknown

2. Whether Chauvin’s use of force was reasonable or constituted intentional assault

The second part is tough for the defense unless they can get a bombshell revelation on the first. In my opinion the key to the 2nd is that Chauvin does not move to a recovery position despite a lack of active resistance or danger (which could justify a prone restraint). Not only that, he continues to use a prone restraint on a cuffed individual several minutes after another officer says he can’t find a pulse (which is clearly picked up in the body cam footage). It’s going to be difficult to argue that any training or situation would justify continuing to use a prone restraint and not render aid to someone who doesn’t have a pulse. I guess defense will try to say he didn’t hear that, and in opening they did set up a narrative of “distracted by unruly crowd forming.” I don’t think it’s a great defense, but they need to have some defense so that’s probably what they have to work with.

Also important to note that based on MN law, Chauvin’s actions don’t have to be the sole cause of death, just a substantial contributing factor, and constitute an assault a reasonable person would know could endanger the life of a vulnerable person.

Chauvin was going to take a plea deal at one point, so he and his defense are aware they don’t have an easy road. Still, there’s no guarantee in a jury trial. Sometimes juries return surprising verdicts. I would still say at this point the odds of conviction look pretty good on the murder charges, and strong on the lesser charges. The other three officers are a different story in my opinion, for a few reasons. The nature of their charges and what is needed to convict on those charges, there is more reasonable doubt from what we already know, and probably one of the main things we learned yesterday and today is that a lot of the eyewitnesses didn’t see Keung and Lane and didn’t know they were there based on their field of view and position of the police SUV. So the impactful emotional eyewitness testimony we saw today might not be a factor in their trials. This is not to imply they are out of the woods by any means, but their defense teams do seem to have more avenues to create reasonable doubt.

To close this out I would like to acknowledge how incredibly difficult the last few weeks and the upcoming weeks will be for George Floyd’s family. I don’t think there are any thoughts or words that can do that justice, and I can only hope they at least receive some closure. [/quote]

I agree that the prosecution while have a tough battle to obtain convictions for the two rookies. Officer Tao and Chauvin will receive a conviction. I just do not know what conviction a jury will render. Tai looks pretty culpable of something based on  the testimony of the firefighter/EMT. He failed to allow her to render medical assistance. 
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