Derek Chauvin Was Wrongfully Convicted by the Street Mob, Not the Law

An abominable miscarriage of justice.

[Author's note: I am indebted to our colleague @EugeneKriegsmann for bringing this documentary to our attention and the following represents my modest contribution to the conversation about this shameful, disgraceful chapter in the history of our American Rule of Law.]

On September 1, 2020, I published a post, George Floyd’s Death Was A Tragedy, Because All Lives Matter. It Was Not A Homicide, which was the result of extensive research into the evidence then available upon which the trial of the four officers at the scene was to proceed. The post turned out to be much longer than I had planned it to be partially due to the amount of documentary evidence and other writings about the matter I felt it necessary to review and consider before hitting the publish button.

That research and writing and review of other materials, especially the early autopsy of Floyd, whose system contained, among other things, level 11 fentanyl, over three times the level which could result in death, convinced me beyond a scintilla of doubt that Officer Chauvin followed training procedures he had been taught for many years to the letter and that whatever happened to Floyd, it was absolutely not murder.

I have just finished watching the recently released (non-commercially) movie The Fall of Minneapolis, which runs close to two hours. It's a masterful compilation of the evidence, the body cam video of the officers on the scene -- dramatically different from the viral video which we have all seen over and over again -- interviews with the officers themselves from prison, interviews with retired officers from the precinct which was destroyed in the “mostly peaceful” “protests,” some with as many as 37 years of service, scenes from the trial itself, etc., etc.

Most importantly, this documentary includes an extensive discussion of the deposition of Amy Sweasy in her harassment lawsuit against the then-County Prosecutor, in which she recounts a conversation she had with the Medical Examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, a few hours after Floyd’s death and autopsy, in which he expressed these opinions:

There were no medical findings that showed any injury to the vital structures of Mr. Floyd’s neck. There were no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation.

Within a few days, a few additions appeared in the supplemental report of the Medical Examiner containing the unsupported speculation that his death could have been, in part, the result of “subdual by law enforcement,” which, of course, was all the County Prosecutor, the Socialist/Marxist Attorney General Keith Ellison and the FBI which had by then inexplicably entered the case needed to go forward with indictments and/or charges against all four officers.

While it is impossible to summarize a documentary of this length and detail, except to note that I hope every person who still thinks there is still a viable Rule of Law in America will watch this movie to test that belief, I will note, as a former trial lawyer, that some of the decisions made by Judge Cahill and some of the testimony of officers, including most egregiously the Chief of Police, are, to put it most kindly, troubling and in the case of the Chief of Police, very possibly downright perjurious.

Lawyers have it drilled into them first in Law School and then, much more importantly, in acquiring the experience — and scars and bruises and lacerations — of actually trying cases, not to criticize fellow lawyers about their handling of their cases. They know more than anyone about the real case than anyone else and, of paramount importance. Also, as a matter of legal ethics, never criticize a Judge for his judgment calls in a case.

That said, it is hard not to question the wisdom of some of Judge Cahill’s rulings in some critical areas. His apparent refusal to allow the defense to display to the jury the pages from the training manuals, which clearly corroborate in words and graphics that Officer Chauvin precisely followed the section of the MPD training manual outlining the proper procedures for Maximum Restraint Technique (MRT), Section 5-316.

In the documentary, Derek Chauvin’s mother said she had his training manuals, which were easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. A reading of those specifics, especially with the accompanying sketch that shows a technique identical to that used by Chauvin, leaves no doubt, reasonable, substantial, flimsy, or otherwise, that Chauvin was using the technique he had been trained with for years. The Chief of Police testified under oath that Chauvin’s technique was not a part of their training. I was not in that trial in any capacity, but I can read. After viewing the documentary, my original conclusion has been strengthened considerably.

This trial was, in Derek Chauvin’s own words in the interview in the movie, an absolute “sham.” I would call it an abomination of the American Rule of Law resulting in the imprisonment of a law enforcement officer for what may well be the rest of his life. All due to the sheer intimidation power of the street mob on all elements of the trial— including, tragically, the jury and the Judge.

I cannot venture even a guess as to what may be done under Minnesota procedure to rectify what has clearly been a monumental miscarriage of justice. I do, however, have a deep and abiding conviction that this jury verdict will remain a permanent stain on the shambles we continue, with Hunter Biden and the Biden Crime Family, for one example, to call our Rule of Law. I daresay that you may come away from watching this documentary feeling the same way.