Derek Chauvin Trail
Are you following the George Floyd trial? If you have, you know that the jury is out and we are on verdict watch. I honestly haven’t been able to watch the trial, but I have heard bits and pieces.
In the video above, an with regards to the defense I hear above, I am not convinced by Dr. Fowler’s reasoning that other elements contributed to his death. Are you?
Dr. Fowler tries to argue that Floyd’s heart was in the 95% percentile, so it was enlarged. I would argue that at 6 feet 6 inches tall and 230 pounds, he was larger than most men. Actually, do the calculation here! According to this website, Floyd was actually larger than 99% of the population by height, so perhaps for his size, his heart was slightly smaller than average for this size. So Fowler’s point is mute, if you ask me.
He also tries to call George Floyd “ROBUST”, but at the same time tells us he had a 90% cardiac blockage, coronary heart disease, hypertension, etc. He paints him as an unhealthy man yet calls him robust?
A coronary blockage that large is serious because it limits oxygen and blood flow to the body. That doesn’t make Floyd, while large in size, ROBUST. It actually would make him less strong and weaker than normal. Dr. Fowler is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He can’t be both here, which discredits Dr. Fowler some, if you ask me.
Fowler is also trying to throw in that Floyd died by carbon monoxide poisoning, which I find jaw dropping, frankly. Who put him in the position to have to breath that in? Who was negligent in this area? It wasn’t Floyd.
While I haven’t watched the case in its entirety, if this is the crux of the defense, I would not find it convincing as a cause of death. Floyd was walking around, functioning just fine prior to have his neck stood on for an unreasonable amount of time.
If we set prescient with this case that underlying medical conditions can be an excuse for a cause of death in cases such as this, I find that very dangerous territory!
What do you think? If you were a juror, how would you vote? Vote below!
If you haven’t seen the autopsy report, you can see it here.
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There were a lot of fellow officers who testified against Chauvin. This feels very out of character for a profession that is known to close ranks around each other. I am very concerned that they are using Chauvin as a kind of sacrificial lamb to have plausible deniability for the systemic racism inherent in US policing. “See, police ARE held accountable! The system works!”
Meanwhile, there’s been an entire occupying force in Minneapolis, and Portland has been terrorized by their police force pretty consistently, and in the BLM protests the overwhelming majority of them were peaceful and only turned violent after the police showed up, and the systemic problems are just SO deep-rooted that people either don’t see them or don’t want to undertake the hard work to address them.
I’m just very afraid that this guilty verdict is a token gesture to provide cover for a corrupt system and white supremacy.
You have to focus on the fact he was held accountable and that sends a strong message to others who may be abusing the system. You are at risk to spend life in prison if you act with the belief of impunity! I have to hope for this effect.
I could not watch the trial. Emotionally, I could not handle it. I am a mother of a 26 yr old African American son… My son is a 1st year Resident (MD), honor roll/Deans list student, wonderful, God fearing man.
Despite what he has accomplished, It is hard not to have fear for him going out in society. Because society will not see him as anything other than a dark-complexioned man 1st…..
Therefore, to hear and see George Floyd crying out, crying for his Mother, is too much to handle watching over and over.
However, I have faith in God, and he has prevailed in providing justice (at least for this trial).
Thank you for your website/blog to give insightful knowledge of human behavior. It really does help to look at events in another manner.
Hi Eyes,
In the original video what do you read as the expression on Chauvin’s face?
Can you provide link and time marker for what you speak about? I will consider reviewing it.
The prosecution’s entire case could succeed by just showing to the jury the 2 second snippet of the attitude of Chauvin with his hand in his pocket while kneeling on Floyd: lapping up the power of immunity from an enraged crowd that can’t do diddly to him–history of doing the exact same things without a camera or crowd, and the erroneous belief that he’ll be doing it again soon. Ooooops!
EFL … what do YOU think of his “attitude” and posturing … to me, that says it all. I’d really appreciate hearing your take on it.
Alternate juror speaks along with clarification from expert witness–was helpful to me: youtube.com/watch?v=1QD4svkFzy0