Posted on 03/29/2021 10:35:06 PM PDT by Humane1
Chauvin Defense Lawyer Blames George Floydâs Death on Bystanders: They Caused Officers to âDivert Their Attentionâ MARISA SARNOFF MAR 29, 2021 1:35 PM
Eric Nelson, the defense attorney for Derek Chauvin, blamed bystanders for distracting officers from properly caring for George Floyd as Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground and knelt on his neck, as Chauvinâs trial got underway Monday.
In his opening statement, Nelson implied that bystanders, who were pleading for Chauvin to remove his knee from Floydâs neck as Floyd himself said he couldnât breathe, were at least in part to blame for Floydâs death.
âAs the crowd grew in size, seemingly so too did their anger,â Nelson said. âRemember, there is more to the scene than just what the officers see in front of them. There are people behind them and across the street. There are cars stopping, people yelling. There are â there is a growing crowd and what officers perceived to be a threat. They are called names.â
âTheyâre screaming at them,â Nelson continued. âCausing the officers to divert their attention from the care of Mr. Floyd to the threat that was growing in front of them.â
Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Floyd. Bystander video captured Chauvin kneeling on Floydâs neck for several minutes in late May of 2020. Floydâs death in police custody set off protests and demonstrations worldwide.
(Excerpt) Read more at mediaite.com ...
Exactly. Establish doubt about culpability and he walks.
Policy won’t protect him from the law. One would think that following a policy would protect and officer but it is not always the case. For instance in this case placing a knee on a neck may have been within policy, but a officer still needs to act reasonably. He had his knee on his neck for several minutes which could be considered excessive or unreasonable.
You mean out of the 12 million they were given?
It’s probably Pro bono
Terrell didn’t......he was spot on
Please supply some evidence that the cop had his knee on the Floyd’s throat. I have watched every video and pursued every image I can find of the incident and only see the knee on Floyd’s upper back. Unless the medical term “neck” has been defined I don’t see it.
Not sure what the overall strategy is going to be, because this was the opening statement. The defense is holding back, and will wait until the prosecution lays out its case.
Talking about the crowd distracting is a reasonable point.
The defense should use any item or theory that it can to create reasonable doubt. The crowd thing is one data point toward that goal.
I think the police union is helping fund defense.
I never said that he had his knee on his throat. Whatever the case may be a person died the officer may or may not be at fault for his death. I don’t know enough facts to know if the officers actions caused his death.
All I know is that even if the officer was following policy he can be charged. The officer has to act reasonably even if following policy. What he did may be reasonable under the circumstances, but that is for a jury to decide.
That’s the unspeakable truth.
Sorry, I apologize. I switched terms in my post. It was inadvertent.
I still have the same question. The “neck” is typically defined as:
“Part of body by which the head is connected to the trunk, it extends from the base of the cranium to the top of the shoulders.”
Where did the cop have his knee? Looks (in everything I can find) that he has it on Floyd’s upper back.
Where are you getting that information from? From what I recall none of the autopsy reports had a neck injury
aha ok possibly a good point i imagine
I really hope they have a better defense argument than that.
It does not matter how good the defense is. We must have a trial by uninformed media and the public who gobble up its bilge.
That’s a stupid attempt at defense.
The race baiters are already organized and are in the streets. They have hired thousands of out-of-work street people to burn, destroy, steal and assault.
Going to be another horrible summer for Minneapolis.
I watched the whole video , Floyd was OUT of his mind from drugs and toxicology reports show that clearly. That being said if you think the facts even matter in this media induced circus you will be wrong. A perfect catch 22 is occuring Not guilty = riots/guilty will spur the black community with even more of an untouchable attitude because they are simply black....our republic is going to become bloody and even more divided because of this . A no win situation.
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