A jury has found former cop Derek Chauvin guilty in the death of George Floyd after a show trial that would have made Josef Stalin blush.
The jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree felony murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Though Floyd’s autopsy clearly showed that he overdosed on fentanyl and suffered major cardiovascular problems — which means he caused his own death despite Chauvin’s restraining him on May 25 — today’s guilty verdicts were a forgone conclusion.
Judge Peter Cahill refused to declare a mistrial after possible jury tampering not only by Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), but also, just today, President Joe Biden’s attempt to influence the outcome. Biden said he prayed the jury reached the “right” verdict.
Reversible Outcome
The jury found Chauvin guilty of the following crimes:
- unintentional second degree murder while committing a felony;
- third degree murder, perpetrating an eminently dangerous act; and,
- second-degree manslaughter, culpable negligence, creating an unreasonable risk.
The jury reached that verdict despite clear and convincing evidence that Floyd overdosed on fentanyl and other drugs, and suffered serious cardiovascular problems.
The county coroner told a prosecutor that Floyd had taken a fatal dose of fentanyl, an opiate at least 50 times more powerful than morphine. The autopsy found that Chauvin, who had pinned Floyd to the ground because he resisted arrest, inflicted “no life-threatening injuries.”
The autopsy also found that Floyd suffered “severe” coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and hypertensive heart disease.
Cahill did not permit Chauvin’s attorney to present evidence of Floyd’s violent criminal past, nor did the jury hear complete details about a previous overdose and encounter with police in 2019 that was similar to one during which he died.
Still, Chauvin might overturn the verdicts on appeal given the antics of Waters on Saturday, and Biden’s comments today as the jury deliberated.
Waters showed up at a protest about the police shooting death fugitive Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and demanded a guilty verdict.
“We’re looking for a guilty verdict. We’re looking for a guilty verdict,” she said. And protesters must be prepared to get “more confrontational” if the jury weighs the evidence and ignores her.
Waters got what she demanded, but not before Cahill rebuked her. The judge said she “may have given [Chauvin] something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”
Then came Biden’s seeming attempt to sway the jury. Explaining that he had spoken with Floyd’s family, Biden said he hoped for a conviction.
“I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict,” Biden said. “I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered now.”
As the Washington Post noted, lawyer Bradley Moss explained the problem: “No sitting President should be publicly weighing in on how a jury should rule in a pending criminal matter. No president, liberal or conservative, democrat or republican.”
Jury Instructions
Cahill gave the jury 14 pages of instructions.
“We all have feelings, assumptions, perceptions, fears, and stereotypes about others,” he wrote.
Yet despite those “implicit biases,” he warned, “you must resist any urge to reach a verdict influenced by bias for or against any party or witness.… The law demands that you make a fair decision, based solely on the evidence, your individual evaluations of that evidence, your reason and common sense, and these instructions.”
Judge Instructions On ChauvinExplaining that a juror must be unafraid to “to reexamine your views and change your opinion if you become convinced they are erroneous,” a particularly important note given the leftist propaganda campaign against Chauvin and claims that he “murdered” Floyd, Cahill sternly warned against a verdict driven by fear of consequences.
In other words, a juror must not vote to convict no matter how much he fears riots or even being attacked himself:
During your deliberations, you must not let bias, prejudice, passion, sympathy, or public opinion influence your decision. You must not consider any consequences or penalties that might follow from your verdict.…
Your verdict must be based solely on the evidence presented.
Chauvin will be sentenced in eight weeks.
On the first count, he faces a maximum 40 years in prison, on the second a maximum of 25 years, on the third, a maximum of 10 years.
The Legal Insurrection blog reported that those sentences will likely be much less, 10.5 years on the first two counts and four on the third, because Chauvin has no prior convictions.
After the verdict, prosecutors filed for aggravated sentencing that would exceed recommended guidelines.
