An Abomination Of Law May Be Rectified.

 Derek Chauvin may be guilty or not guilty. That needs to be determined at a fair trial, which he was denied in 2021.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…

~6^th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

I’m not sure the actions taken by former officer Derek Chauvin with George Floyd were proper or legal. To be fair, I wasn’t an investigator or a juror in his trial. However, I do know a judicial railroad when I see it, and his trial was a classic example.

After months of riots costing over two billion and at least 20 (likely more) dead, a show trial was held in the Twin City of Minneapolis MN, Saint Paul.

At the direction of Governor Tim Walz, the state Attorney General prosecuted the case over the local district attorney’s office. Keith Ellison was using the case as an “effort to achieve a measure of justice for all the Black families who have lost loved ones to police violence but never saw a courtroom.” Hyperbole? Not at all. From the New York Times (emphasis mine):

Once, in the lead-up to the trial, Mr. Ellison invited the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed in 2014 by a New York police officer who was never charged, to join the prosecution team’s daily meeting. Her presence, Mr. Katyal said, highlighted how Mr. Ellison saw the Chauvin case as not merely about the death of Mr. Floyd, but also as an effort to achieve a measure of justice for all the Black families who have lost loved ones to police violence but never saw a courtroom.

Last time I looked, in western jurisprudence, an individual is judged by his own actions, not held to account for the actions of others they have no responsibility for. While a political or military leader can be responsible for those who he leads, an individual without relation to others is not responsible for the actions of the others. So how is Mr. Garner involved in this? I think we know the answer.

The judge refused a request for a change of venue, saying the jury pool was too contaminated by publicity and no place in Minnesota was not exposed to news accounts of the incident. What you’re saying is there is no place in the state you can get an impartial jury of his peers for the defendant, so let’s just leave it in the most contaminated section of the state.

The jury was not sequestered in spite of what others have said. They were “partially sequestered,” i.e., sequestered during the deliberations but allowed to go home during the trial. Sounds like a “partially patched hole” in the hull of a sinking ship. There were countless demonstrators threatening to riot outside during the trial, with politicians and VIPs egging on protestors. Does anyone think this will not affect the jury?

I think we have a motive for the prosecution, and it’s not justice.

From Legal Insurrection’s reviews of the trial, this shows it all. Juror 52, Brandon Mitchell, swore to the court he did not know any of the details of the case and could be impartial. From a link from The Post Millennial, a picture of this juror wearing a “Get your knee off our necks” t-shirt a year before the trial:

In a sane courtroom this man should be disqualified without question, and any honest judge should allow for a new trial if this man served on Chauvin’s trial.

The good news is there is hope for an appeal. Again, from Legal Insurrection (emphasis mine):

(Derek) Chauvin pled guilty to federal charges…Chauvin is contesting his federal guilty plea, asserting in a pro se motion to vacate sentence, among other things, ineffective assistance from his counsel Eric Nelson, for failure to engage with a supposed expert who reached out with a theory that Floyd died because of heart failure not Chauvin’s actions.

Counsel appointed for Chauvin after Nelson withdrew from the case then filed a Motion for Discovery:

The opinion of Dr. William Schaetzel is that Mr. Floyd died due to a catecholamine crisis (adrenaline overload) when his paraganglioma secreted excessive levels of catecholamines. Dr. Schaetzel urges that samples be examined to show if Mr. Floyd passed because of Takotsubo’s myocarditis, i.e., an acute heart failure (a heart attack) caused by a catecholamine crisis…

After being railroaded, Office Chauvin has a ray of hope. Now even if this leads to the overthrow of his federal conviction, there’s still the question of his state trial. I would believe if a physician proved the man was not choked to death but died of a cardiac event, drug induced or not, that would destroy the state’s case (i.e., Chauvin was negligent or reckless in his handling of Floyd), requiring a new trial.

I’m not saying Chauvin is innocent. I have questions of his handling of the scene, particularly as he seemly did not take immediate actions (chest compressions) upon hearing from an officer he lost Floyd’s pulse. But the man has a right to a fair trial by an impartial jury, which he did not get. Justice is slow, and this is one step in the right direction.

Michael A. Thiac is a retired Army intelligence officer, with over 23 years experience, including serving in the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Middle East. He is also a retired police patrol sergeant, with over 22 years’ service, and over ten year’s experience in field training of newly assigned officers. He has been published at The American Thinker, PoliceOne.com, and on his personal blog, A Cop’s Watch.

Opinions expressed are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of current or former employers.

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