The Civil Rights Lawyer’s Opinion on the Chauvin Verdict – Everything Law and Order Blog

I explain and analyze the Chauvin verdict. The live version had a technical failure, so I summarize what I discuss. What were the actual jury instructions and verdicts? What were they not? You might be surprised at my comparison with the post-verdict speech by Biden as compared with this video of him in 2014. Also, let’s set aside the rhetoric and look at the facts on police shootings and statistics.

Polling respondents, after being asked whether they identify as liberal or conservative, were asked,“If you had to guess, how many unarmed Black men were killed by police in 2019?” Over 22% of people identifying themselves as “very liberal” responded that they believed 10,000 or more unarmed black men were killed by police in 2019. Even 13% of people identifying themselves as “conservative” placed the number at 10,000 or more. Over 40% of conservatives thought the number was at least 100 or more.

See the study data for yourselves: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com/2021/04/21/the-civil-rights-lawyers-reaction-to-the-chauvin-verdict/

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29 thoughts on “The Civil Rights Lawyer’s Opinion on the Chauvin Verdict”
  1. You stated that the disproportionality in police shootings against black people isn't due to racial animus, but rather, due to the fact that black people are more likely to be "arrested for" violent crimes than white people are – which assumes that black people actually committed the crimes for which they were arrested, and therefore, must participate in activities that bring them into contact with police more frequently than white people do.

    However, arrest rates don't accurately reflect criminal activity rates. It's worth noting that the statistic used was arrest rates, not conviction rates. An arrest doesn't mean the arrested person actually committed a crime. Often, an arrested person is released & charges are dropped.

    Racial bias certainly exists in every human to some extent. We're wired, in an evolutionary sense, to perceive trustworthiness to a greater extent in strangers who look like us than in those who do not. Therefore, it's reasonable to expect white police officers (the majority) to distrust black "suspects" more often, and to wrongfully arrest them for crimes they didn't commit.

    It's a known fact that innocent people are arrested for, and convicted of, crimes. The Innocence Project, and organizations like it, have proven it. That said, it's not improbable that black people may be arrested for crimes white people committed, thus reducing the accuracy of one agency's theory that – statistically – blacks commit more crimes than whites.

  2. You quote the tallied percentage numbers but those will NEVER account for the most egregious, heinous, and unnecessary acts by police that lead/led up to the Black America persons Murder and the more often than not those Killers.
    Consider also, in perspective the persons who intricately involved call authorities, because they feel uncomfortable, are racist down to their bone marrow, curious to see someone put in their place and not caring because of their "privilege", calling just because ….
    All this to say your limited segmentation on the barest stat is demoralizing and without merit because the systemic disparaging are the PERVASIVE Indoctrinating HISTORY of Wrongs since the beginning of NOT acknowledging the facts that Africans / Black Americans were in this "Americas" for over 1,000 Years BEFORE Columbus-1492
    and persons intricately involved in start the "Domino" effect.

  3. Are you good at your job? Was excessive force used on George Floyd or not? How many people of color have you actually represented? Two of these questions are rhetorical. Let’s see if you’re smart enough to figure it out.

  4. First let me say
    (West by god Virginia)❤
    I love what you’re doing and its much needed. I just hope people realize how important what you’re doing is.
    If you give the cops and inch they will take a mile and that is exactly what they had been doing until people like you started standing up for our rights. We can not take any of our rights for granted because the moment we do we won’t have that right anymore.
    I just wanted to say thank you for all the work you’re doing.
    I wish I had known about you back in 2012 When I had a Kan. County family court judge railroad me into entering into something I didn’t understand I didn’t have time to get a lawyer and when I ask for time to get a lawyer he yelled and said agree to it because it will be better than the alternative and that scared the shit out of me so I said yes.
    Worst mistake I’ve ever made.
    Anyway thanks for all you do.

  5. This case was a case of conditions being just right to explode the area it happened in was ripe for people's anger. It took away form more important police killings but I'm at the point of I don't even care what people are pissed about as long as things begin to change. I don't think the charges were fair but I asked myself how many people are in jail for most of there life wrongful when all they have to claim is you assaulted them by bumping into them and I'm like it's justice if cops want it to stay the same and not change.

  6. As someone who is a victim to police brutality and WHITE I totally agree with this conclusion. I was beat till I passed out while I was handcuffed and put in the hospital for a month and had to learn to walk again. No one batted an eye when I told them what happened to me. First time I was ever arrested and the last. It's very unfortunate what happened to Floyd but it can happen to ANYONE!!

  7. People's perception is skewed by the media flip on news all you see is black man killed by police blah blah blah if it's a white man or other races other then black is reported as man killed by police no mention of race but people assume it's black unless people look into it I also seen media claim black man killed by police when the guy was infact white

  8. I thought you were a lawyer? Why are you talking race and politics and statistics? Every case is judged on its on facts and merits and this officer has done this to other people, why wasn’t that a factor?

  9. I agree with you completely. Racism exist because that’s just human nature, but it happen across all spectrum regardless of race. The fact of the matter is we need to concentrate on accountability of law enforcement. It’s the unaccountability that causes mistrusts in the community.

  10. I find it funny you brought up Maxine Walters. I don't know one person that listens to her. But I believe that if the media didn't only make a big deal until it's an unarmed black person, more people would see the issue.

  11. There is reason to believe Floyd's cause of death was missed as it is so rare a cause of death.
    The police bodycam AUDIO evidence these charges will prove unwarranted .
    Listen to it here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQYMBALDXc
    Note Floyd becomes unresponsive at 16:30.
    At 17:24, he is reported as "still breathing". The officer making that statement needs to be questioned on how he made that determination.
    The full AUDIO and other sources suggest there are several things that could have caused Floyd's death:
    1. Floyd resists arrest and tries to punk the police continually.
    When put into the police car, he resists and says he is claustrophobic. At time 10:10, Floyd says "I can't choke" then Floyd says "I can't breathe" 5 times. He set himself up to not be believed the 15 or more times he said he couldn't breathe while on the ground.
    2. The officer audio, at times 12:29, 13:42, 14:49, & 14:56, reveals they did not know Floyd talking did not exclude the possibility he might be on the verge of respiratory collapse.
    Explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oqEp63duIc This reveals a critical deficiency in their training.
    Note Dr. Hansen's comments on Floyd's toxicology report.
    View the report and Dr. Barnard's interpretation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRoqSyIi-98
    Note, too, Dr. Barnard doesn't get Floyd was punking the police.
    3. Twice during the encounter, Floyd stated he had COVID, confirmed by the toxicology report. The time of this tragedy may have been before it was widely known COVID-19 could attack the heart causing myocarditis, explained here:
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32965356/
    Was this condition noted in the autopsies ?
    If not, is that a legal deficiency?
    Floyd had an enlarged heart, which reminded me of this :
    Enlarged heart kills teen basketball player https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjy0bVBPgQI
    Note the commonality: 1.) enlarged heart 2.) recent viral infection 3.) exertion 4.) not able to "walk down" cardiac demand.
    4. From the AUDIO, we can only determine at time 16:30 Floyd's brain was not getting enough blood flow to remain conscious. Remember, Floyd is reported as still breathing 54 seconds later. We need to know when the police were aware Floyd was not breathing.
    Analysis: Floyd died a very rare type of death, like Wes Leonard, as a result of his enlarged heart fibrillating beginning at time 16:30 from causes UNRELATED to Chauvin's actions, possibly Floyd's drug use and/or undetected early COVID-19 myocarditus and other medical factors which hastened his demise.
    Officer Chauvin was authorized to use, but DID NOT use, the procedures found in section 5-311 of the policy & procedures manual, since changed to prohibit choke holds. Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's shoulder blade, not his neck.
    Expert witness Tobin, when later called back to the stand to address the question of whether carbon monoxide from the police vehicle was a factor, impeached himself when he testified Floyd's blood oxygen level was at 98% saturation !! Of course it was !! The paramedics had given Floyd CPR and OXYGEN !!! He also did not evidence familiarity with the Wes Leonard death. Experts can make mistakes & don't know every case history in their specialty.
    Legal question: Even so, can an officer be held criminally responsible for performing a trained activity and that training later proves deficient or flawed?
    This was a mistrial as the jury was not sequestered, could not have followed the judges instructions, did a poor job of listening, and were misled by the DA during his closing arguments. It has come out there was at least one tainted juror.
    Additional resources:
    DEVASTATING EVIDENCE The Media WON'T Show You In George Floyd Case
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstsGo5f31s
    Derek Chauvin Trial: Shapiro Breaks Down The Latest Evidence
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCZ7obfSqBw
    The false narative created through deceptive editing posted by the New York Times.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vksEJR9EPQ8 Note what they left out.

  12. An angry mob with the rope in their hands and all the media and politicians screaming for a hanging – no pressure here jury – need not listen to the testimony for like Ton Robinson – the verdict had already been decided for you

  13. I don't understand why there is any discussion about "racism" with the verdict. What should be discussed is the root cause of Police violence, excessive force and lethal warfare against the civilian population and the ever emerging Police State we re turning into. That is what is important.

  14. There are absolute statics and statistics relative to particular population. Those who claim racism is nonexistent use absolute numbers to support their position as well as cherry picked statistics and articles. Police brutality is an issue that should be important to all who want liberty. The evidence is overwhelming that "Blacks" are disproportionately affected, but all are affected.

  15. Couple things.

    I heard more people talking about how police get off free after committing crimes than racism. I don’t see how you could prove race played a part in this incident, so I agree that it should not play a part in this trial. On the other hand, police shootings aren’t normally claimed to be the biggest problem with regard to systematic racism. According to research, black people are more likely to get jail time for drug offenses and tend to get longer sentences when they do.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/

    But yeah. I don’t think there was a chance of Chauvin getting off with the current political and social climate. He was most likely guilty, but it still wasn’t a fair trial.

  16. I don't know where you got 27 from, but that statistic is severely incorrect. It was exposed that the FBI stats on police homicides were so terribly off. This was done by aggregating news stories.

    Even the FBI would report that police in america killed about 500 people a year. It's widely acknowledged that the police do kill more black people than represented by population more than 13 percent roughly. However the police do kill more white people overall because there are more white people.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/

    You can go there the real stats are about 1000 people killed by police in the US and about 25%.

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