Derek Chauvin trial

I’m an avid Court TV fan......interesting case. Personally I feel the £27 million payout was excessive. It sets a precedent and will cripple the police force ......

JenniferEccles

I may have read it anywhere, even on here at the time.
I am not someone who demands evidence or links to prove everything others post, unlike some on here!

You probably read it at the time - a typical strategy to make the victim seem even worse than he was to make his murder seem justified. I was pretty sure you were wrong because in the credible sources I usually rely on, I’d never heard that fact before. I’m rather a fan of posting the truth and not spreading rumours and gossip especially about murdered people. Yeah I know - odd ain’t it?

This trial is going to ignite something if the Police officer gets off. He has had 18 police complaints against him, 7 complaints of police brutality, multiple violent and deadly cases of police abuse, and he has shot three people, two of whom survivted.

The Defence are bringing up George Floyd's drug abuse and past history. Will they bring up Chauvin's record of brutality?

I have seen the footage again. It is heartbreaking. I just hope justice prevails.

Btw, Chauvin has been charged with murder and manslaughter.

crazyH

I’m an avid Court TV fan......interesting case. Personally I feel the £27 million payout was excessive. It sets a precedent and will cripple the police force ......

Firstly it was $27 m and the precedent was set a couple of years ago by the $20 m paid out to the family of a white woman killed by a black officer who is currently in prison.I’d already posted this information btw

crazyH

Btw, Chauvin has been charged with murder and manslaughter.

Yes I think we know

I mean both Summerlove that police will be able to kill black people with impunity and that there will be riots, not protests but riots.

I'm sure the defence prosecution will bring up Chauvin's record JustMe they'd be severely lacking if they don't.

Smileless2012

I mean both Summerlove that police will be able to kill black people with impunity and that there will be riots, not protests but riots.

I'm sure the defence prosecution will bring up Chauvin's record JustMe they'd be severely lacking if they don't.

The problem about bringing up a persons record is whether it’s allowed as ‘admissible’ - it’s the same over here and tbf it’s about getting a fair trial. Sadly anything can be said about a dead victim ( see on here for example). In the UK when a man murders his partner, it’s amazing what is said by the defence about her without contradiction and how upset her friends and family are then afterwards

Yes. But unfortunately George Floyd's record is out there, that should be the case with the officer being prosecuted. Who knows though....

I tune in to CNN from time to time. There's some very powerful testimonies.

Suziewoozie, I was just answering someone’s question, upstream. ?

Has everyone watched the full video? I saw it yesterday afternoon, it is horrific, no other word for it. Bystanders were pleading with Chauvin throughout, they were watching a murder play out.
Chauvin continued to kneel on George Floyd's neck even when paramedics were trying to find a pulse.
His lifeless body was then unceremoniously thrown onto a stretcher.

JenniferEccles

I don’t know what is poignant about breaking into a pregnant woman’s home and pointing a gun at her stomach which is what he did.

Ok we all know what happened to him was wrong but Floyd was a hardened criminal.

So??
He deserved to die?

Summerlove

JenniferEccles

I don’t know what is poignant about breaking into a pregnant woman’s home and pointing a gun at her stomach which is what he did.

Ok we all know what happened to him was wrong but Floyd was a hardened criminal.

So??
He deserved to die?

But what she posted wasn’t even true in the first place.

nanaK54 I agree. I found it far more upsetting to see it all now than after it had just happened, and back then it was bad enough.
I think it was the disgusting nonchalence of Chauvin with his hands in his pockets whilst kneeling on George Floyd that did it for me.
The young witnesses giving their testimonies at the moment are very brave. One was only 14 when it happened.

JenniferEccles

I may have read it anywhere, even on here at the time.
I am not someone who demands evidence or links to prove everything others post, unlike some on here!

Well why the heck not.
If you were going to “things as though they are fact, you should probably find out the truth first

Smileless2012

I mean both Summerlove that police will be able to kill black people with impunity and that there will be riots, not protests but riots.

I'm sure the defence prosecution will bring up Chauvin's record JustMe they'd be severely lacking if they don't.

If there are riots, I’m not going to be able to disagree with them.

Summerlove

JenniferEccles

I may have read it anywhere, even on here at the time.
I am not someone who demands evidence or links to prove everything others post, unlike some on here!

Well why the heck not.
If you were going to “things as though they are fact, you should probably find out the truth first

I love the implied criticism of someone who demands evidence or links to prove everything ???

Well I'll disagree with any riots Summerlove. George Floyd's family spoke out against the riots following his death.

That's how the legal process works isn't it suziewoozie. The defence and prosecution have the right to ask for evidence to be ruled as inadmissible with the judge having the final say.

I don't agree that anything can be said about the victim of a homicide without contradiction. That is what cross examination is for and of course the prosecution can call family members and friends to contradict any 'evidence' produced by the defence.

Smileless2012

Well I'll disagree with any riots Summerlove. George Floyd's family spoke out against the riots following his death.

That's how the legal process works isn't it suziewoozie. The defence and prosecution have the right to ask for evidence to be ruled as inadmissible with the judge having the final say.

I don't agree that anything can be said about the victim of a homicide without contradiction. That is what cross examination is for and of course the prosecution can call family members and friends to contradict any 'evidence' produced by the defence.

It’s not that simple sadly.

Well, I hope he is found guilty.

However, I think this sort of vicious behaviour is not an isolated incident and, in my view, suggests an accepted culture of violence, threats and intimidation in law enforcement. As with the Rodney King scandal many years ago, this case has been particularly highlighted because of the filmed footage, which was appalling to see.

It is important that this man faces justice, but just putting one man away will not stop this sort of brutality and discrimination. I believe that in many states in the US the recruitment and training of police officers is far from rigorous and it seems to me that the whole system of recruitment and training needs to be completely overhauled.

What if it were middle to late aged white women being profiled and targeted?

Would you (general you) sit down quietly and complain about riots then?

Allow victims to be blamed?

This is a human rights issue. A civil liberties issue.

It won’t change without a lot of noise.

I read an article recently about the place of the police in American society and it is a very different to our police force and there attitude to policing. Policing is very local and, as Eloethan says, the way policemen are recruited and trained would not be acceptable in the UK. The police also have far more independence than the police in this country. There is a lack of surveillance and control from higher up the governance hierarchy. This gives them a sense of impunity. What they says goes, and you do not lightly challenge them.

The other big difference is that police are seen as almost a branch of the military, look at the way, the National Guard is called in to enforce the police when faced witht events beyond their control. They are armed in an armed society and can and do use weapons that in this country are confined to the military.

Up until now the US police have been a law unto themselves and have faced no real challenge because of the power they wield. The mobile phone with camera has changed all this. This and another renewed wave for equal rights before the law, regardless of colour and ethnicity.

Yes Monica. Good summary. Just because we have a similar language, far to many people think the various institutions in both societies are somehow similar. As well as the police, the whole criminal justice system is vastly different with many elected posts at all levels and a.completely different culture. I think I’m a bit more sceptical than you about changes in policing resulting from mobile phone footage and a greater push towards equal rights before the law.

What we are seeing now and with Georgia leading the charge is a renewed attack on voting rights. If you increase voter suppression this means black voter suppression ( in the main) and if you have no vote, you can’t vote for the local sherif or any of the other elected posts in the CJS so good luck with equal access to justice.

Thanks Monica for that summary. BLM and the talk of defunding the police in the US is important. The police force is armed with military style weapons. There is little government or state funding for agencies that could reduce crime and drug addiction. Funding for Children’s Services is raised as it would be for charities not statutory agencies as here in the UK

The trial already looks like the OJ Simpson trial.. let’s hope it isn’t a similar travesty

This is a chilling read

www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2020/06/12/policing-should-not-be-about-generating-profit/?sh=207a09757356