Tag: Chauvin trial

Derek Chauvin’s witnesses include former Maryland medical examiner being sued over ‘chillingly similar’ case

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When the video of George Floyd gasping for air under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin emerged last year, it told a story that was painfully familiar to Anton Black’s family.

Black encountered police on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the fall of 2018, when officers responding to a call about a possible kidnapping wrestled the 19-year-old to the ground. Video footage released later showed the officers in Greensboro, Md., struggling with Black before pinning him down. Black died, and no officers were charged in his death.

Then came Floyd’s death last year, another video of a Black man being held down by police and dying. The cases, Black’s family said in a court filing, were “chillingly similar.” Now they are connected in another way: Among the experts Chauvin’s defense called this week was the former Maryland medical examiner who deemed Black’s death an accident, a determination his family pilloried in a federal lawsuit filed in December. Continue reading.

Derek Chauvin trial represents a defining moment in America’s racial history

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Chauvin case to add to national racial legacy

George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has become a defining moment of our time.

What began 10 months ago at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue has transformed into nothing less than an American reckoning on justice, racial equity, the proper role of law enforcement and the historical wrongs society has perpetrated on Black people.

Monday morning, that moment leads to the 18th-floor courtroom of the Hennepin County Government Center, where a jury will begin to hear a murder and manslaughter case against since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin. Continue reading.

Derek Chauvin trial: 911 dispatcher testifies ‘Something was not right’ during arrest that led to George Floyd’s death

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First witness takes stand following opening statements.

Attorneys in the Derek Chauvin murder trial on Monday made their case before jurors who will decide the fired Minneapolis police officer’s fate in the killing of George Floyd 10 months ago.

An opening statement from prosecutor Jerry Blackwell began shortly before 9:40 a.m. in front of a global livestream audience in downtown Minneapolis in the heavily guarded Hennepin County Government Center and explained how the state will prove that Chauvin killed Floyd and should convicted of murder and manslaughter.

Nearly an hour later, defense attorney Eric Nelson followed with his opening statement and declared that Chauvin acted precisely as his training taught him. Continue reading.

POCI Caucus Statement on Beginning of Chauvin Trial

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SAINT PAUL – Today marks the beginning of the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. This process will be strenuous and traumatic for many throughout the state, especially for BIPOC communities and those who have fought for justice over the last year. The People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus released the following statement to remember the life of George Floyd and highlight the urgent need for continued public safety reform:

“It is difficult to comprehend the full scale of consequences that stem from the fateful day of May 25, 2020. For many of us, it marked a turning point in our lives, and how we view public safety. The trauma of that day and the sleepless nights that followed will stay with us for the rest of our lives, but the hope is that we can honor this moment by enacting change that will last for generations. 

There are some things we know for sure. We know that a man’s life was taken before his time, before our eyes. We all bore witness to the final minutes of a human life that was snuffed out with a terrible cruelty that was all too casual in its nature. We know that our society has not changed enough, that this terrible death can and will occur again if we do not act now to transform how we approach public safety so that we are all working together to keep one another safe.

The POCI caucus has worked tirelessly to make positive change, and while we have been successful on many fronts, systemic changes that will allow for true reforms have yet to reach a bipartisan consensus. We will continue to fight for justice for our black, brown, and Indigenous communities, and we hope that this trial is the beginning of justice for George Floyd.”

The People of Color & Indigenous (POCI) Caucus includes Reps. Esther Agbaje (59B), Jamie Becker-Finn (42B), Cedrick Frazier (45A), Aisha Gomez (62B), Hodan Hassan (Vice- Chair 62A), Kaohly Her (64A), Athena Hollins (66B), Fue Lee (59A), Carlos Mariani (65B), Rena Moran (65A), Mohamud Noor (60B), Ruth Richardson (52B), John Thompson (67A), Samantha Vang (Chair, 40B), Jay Xiong (67B), Tou Xiong (53B), and Senators Bobby Joe Champion (59), Omar Fateh (62), Melisa Franzen (49), Foung Hawj (67), Mary Kunesh (41), Patricia Torres Ray (Chair, 63)