No I did not watch the video before today. I saw clips of it and clips of the videos the defense will probably enter into evidence. But I never saw the video of him on the ground with Chauvin in his neck in it’s entirety until this morning as I was getting ready for work.
My gut reaction was that this was not normal police procedure and that Chauvin had a complete disregard for the life of Floyd. Maybe there’s some mitigating evidence that will get Chauvin a lower sentence, but he’s going down. There’s not a jury in America that would not send him to jail.
The problem the prosecution has in getting a conviction of some murder charge is not what the city needs to worry about. He will be found guilty. But if it’s not the most serious charge, he’s got a riot on his hands.
Nobody is going to win this case. No matter what the verdict the city will burn.
That being said, there is no way the jury comes back with not guilty on all charges. No way.
I’ve said for months now that a hung jury is likely to be the BEST the prosecution can hope for.