"Beyond a shadow of a doubt..."

"This is the OJ trail of our day. Neither Chauvin nor Floyd were celebrities like OJ, but the complexity of this trail is of high interest, just like the OJ trial was."

I never went to law school. Thought about it for a short (heavy on the word short) period of time, but after getting out of four years in the Navy, I was satisfied with my BS (no jokes, please) degree. So I entered the workforce, and ended up working with lawyers, doing contract negotiations. That being said, I find courtroom proceedings to be fascinating. The Chauvin trial is no exception.

This trial is somewhat unique. It is a murder trial, in which the death of the victim was videotaped. Videotaped and watched by just about everyone, many times over. So what is the big deal? This should be a slam dunk. Guilty. Trial should take a day or so. But hold on. There is a fly in the ointment. 

The fly is this. In a criminal trail, especially a murder trial, guilt has to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. I think, as well as many legal experts who are watching this, everything will hinge on the cause of death. And this is the bug-a-boo. Did George Floyd die from the "neck kneel" administered by Dereck Chauvin for nine minutes? Was that directly or indirectly responsible? Or was it the cocktail of drugs in Floyd's system? Or was it his heart condition? Or was it a combination of all of the above? That is the tall mountain for the jury to figure out in this trial. 

Here is one thing which bothers me about this trial. Right after George Floyd died, the county ME did an autopsy. The results of that autopsy showed the kneeling on the neck did not cause death. The prosecutors did not like that result. So they went out and obtained the services of another agency to perform a subsequent autopsy. Which one is correct?

The other thing is what I call the first responder reflex. Most all cops are trained to be first responders. They know a medical emergency when they see one. Even if Chauvin did not directly cause George Floyd to die, he should be held accountable for not calling EMTs as soon as he saw Floyd foaming at the mouth long before he put him on the ground. If the four cops had treated this stop as a medical emergency as well as law enforcement stop, maybe Floyd would still be alive today. 

This is the OJ trail of our day. Neither Chauvin nor Floyd were celebrities like OJ, but the complexity of this trail is of high interest, just like the OJ trial was. For Chauvin, was he guilty of some degree of murder, of manslaughter, or negligence? The results of that question will have a huge impact to not only Chauvin, but also the community which lives in Minneapolis.