Derek Chauvin is in court, accused of killing George Floyd by placing his knee on Floyd’s neck. Days ago, his lawyer showed a video that apparently shows Chauvin with his knee on the shoulder of Floyd. Many called this insufficient evidence based on the fact that we don’t know if it was that way for the entire nine minutes.
But today, the defense attorneys rocked the courtroom by playing another clip where Floyd, according to defense lawyers, sounds like he may have admitted that he had “eaten too many drugs”. The first time Floyd claimed he could not breathe was well before Chauvin was anywhere near him.
The problem is that Chauvin is facing up to 40 years in prison and there is pressure to convict him in order to stop riots that would occur if that happened. So, even if he is innocent, they will try to convict him in their quest for peace. Of course, if he does turn out to be guilty, he deserves whatever he gets. But he needs to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We do know that Floyd had taken a large amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine prior to his death.
In fact, he also had 75% blockage in one of his arteries. Had he died at home alone, the number of drugs in his body would be considered an overdose under those circumstances. A doctor hired to examine the body hired by the family concluded that Floyd died of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure.” However, the Hennepin County coroner did not reach the same conclusion even though he ruled the death a homicide.
Civil rights attorney and commentator Areva Martin said:
“The world is waiting to see if the US will be courageous enough to stand up to a system that has a history of violating the rights of African Americans and, rather than protecting those lives, has actually destroyed them.”
The one thing I do know is that if you are truly unable to breathe, you cannot talk. That is a medical fact. So, I would guess he was having trouble breathing and that could have been caused by underlying conditions or by the police.
Once all the evidence is in we will haven a clearer picture of what happened.
Defense attorney Eric J. Nelson countered that Floyd was saying “I can’t breathe,” while resisting being put into the cop car — before Chauvin’s knee was anywhere near him.
“If somebody is saying, ‘I can’t breathe,’ and they’re passing out and they’re not resisting, that’s one form of an analysis, right, because the actions of the suspect are consistent with the verbal utterances he’s making, right?” Nelson asked.
“Other times and in this particular case, when Mr. Floyd was initially saying that he couldn’t breathe, he was actively resisting arrest initially when he was in the back seat of the vehicle, right?” he continued.
BREAKING: Chauvin lawyer plays clip of George Floyd, asks if he is saying “I ate too many drugs” pic.twitter.com/JiUDVQMjUf
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 7, 2021
Nelson went on to explain that the officers had to change tactics “when the futility of the three officers continuing their efforts forcibly to seat Floyd in the squad’s back seat became clear.”
The defense also played the clip of Floyd allegedly admitting to eating too many drugs. He added that the rowdy scene caused “a heightened sense of awareness” for the officers.
