This week on Fate of the Union, we are going to look at some updates regarding the case against Officer Derek Chauvin in the wake of body cam footage being released of the police’s confrontation with George Floyd leading up to his death.
The real influence of this video is its impact on the charges brought against Chauvin, and the relevant likelihood of success on each count. Minnesota’s Attorney General, and former Congressman, Keith Ellison has brought the following charges against Chauvin: second degree murder via the felony murder rule, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter.
In the prosecution’s view, the knee was at best a contributing factor to Floyd’s death, that likely would not have resulted in Floyd’s death without the fentanyl in his system. Moreover, there was no way for Chauvin to know about the lethal dose of drugs in Floyd’s system at the time of the events. Without using hindsight, the use of non lethal force on a suspect who was resisting arrest and had other preexisting conditions, the extent of which could not have possibly been known by the officer, does not amount to an unreasonable risk of harm. For comparison, even a choke hold would have been a better case for the manslaughter charge. Instead, this case is at best a case where some may find the measures unnecessary in the circumstances given Floyd’s inability to escape, but that is still short of actions that are criminally culpable.
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