Today the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin got underway. Chauvin is being tried for second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
His defense claims Floyd died of cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension and coronary disease, and that the ingestion drugs and the adrenaline in his body "all acted to further compromise an already compromised heart."
Is Chauvin's lawyer trying to tell us that his client did George Floyd a favor?
If Chauvin didn't have his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds then it is reasonable to conclude that George Floyd would be alive and otherwise anonymous.
Like many people, I have a bad feeling that Chauvin will be acquitted on all counts resulting in violence all over the country including here in Atlanta which has had its own share of police violence.
The other possibility is that Chauvin gets convicted of the lesser of three offenses, gets a light sentence which gets overturned on appeal. It might not engender that same violent reaction of an outright acquittal but there will be little satisfaction and nothing will have changed. The African-American community at large will live in fear of the police and the police will continue to kill African-Americans and anyone they darn well please with impunity.
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