MN Supreme Court denies Petition for Review. Derek Chauvin did not get a fair trial. But it doesn’t matter to the public or the Minnesota courts. Chauvin reportedly will seek U.S. Supreme Court review, but I doubt SCOTUS will take the case.
Derek Chauvin did not get a fair trial for the killing of George Floyd. As the liberals like to say, “period, full stop.”
We have covered this many times based on what actually happened in the trial, as opposed to the media coverage which was mostly dishonest. Much like the Michael Brown “hands up, don’t shoot” narrative was false, so too was the narrative that Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck “for 9 minutes.” The video doesn’t show that, and that wasn’t even the prosecution theory of guilt – Chauvin did have his knee on Floyd’s neck for a time, but mostly on the upper back and shoulder. The prosecution medical evidence of death was positional asphyxia, that the pressure on Floyd’s back while face down in the prone position made it impossible for Floyd to inhale, leading to death.
I wrote near the end of the trial that there was evidence that Chauvin kept the pressure on Floyd too long, even after he was subdued, handcuffed, and unconscious, and that could provide a basis for conviction. It is possible that someone was guilty of a crime, but also did not receive a constitutionally required fair trial. This is such a case.
The problems with the trial, which I watched live and Andrew Branca live-blogged, were enormous, starting with the open threat of violence and rioting if Chauvin was found not guilty. The trial took place in a fortress in Minneapolis with protesters all around, a mob scene which all but guaranteed a conviction no matter what. The trial judge refused to change venue.
