Two-weeks after a 12-member jury found 45-year-old former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilt of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second degree manslaughter, Chauvin’s 46-year-old attorney Eric Nelson filed a motion for a new trial. Nelson, who lost the case hands down, claims the jury was tainted by pre-trial publicity, accusing 64-year-old Minneapolis Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill of denying defense requests for a change of venue, or, once the deliberations began, sequestering jurors while they deliberated. While Chauvin’s well within his rights to seek a new trial, it’s highly unlikely that Judge Cahill will grant the motion based on jury misconduct, including adverse publicity affecting jurors, including “jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution.” If Cahill disagrees with Nelson’s request for a new trial, he could file an appeal.
In either a new trial request or an appeal, Chauvin’s chances are slim-and-none of granted either based on jury misconduct. After presenting 38 witnesses, it’s doubtful anyone wants to go through that exhaustive process again, not to mention the fact the video of Chauvin on George Floyd’s neck for 29-minites, 29-seconds was all the jurors needed to convict Chauvin on all charges. Rarely does a case look so open-and-shut, regardless of all Nelson’s attempts to introduce an element of reasonable doubt with one juror. Whether Cahill granted the change of venue request or whether jurors were sequestered, the video was powerful evidence to convict Chauvin on all counts. No witness testimony or new evidence can change what was obvious to anyone with any common sense. Nelson hoped, like many good defense attorneys, to sell jurors on a preposterous theory.
Nelson did Chauvin a disservice trying a farfetched strategy to convince jurors that Floyd’s drug-or-alcohol intake together with an underlying heart condition caused his death, not Chauvin’s knee-on-the-neck. When it comes to causation, it’s easy for Nelson to introduce new variables like Floyd’s drug-or-alcohol intake and his pre-existing medical condition. But like the straw that broke the camel’s back, Floyd introduced far more than a straw, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly 30 minutes. In reviewing the facts of the case, Cahill will conclude that no about of pre-trial publicity or personal prejudice of jurors changes the basic facts enterred into evidence. When it comes to pre-trial publicity, you’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind, not to be acquainted with what happened to George Floyd. Whatever the pre-trial publicity or venue it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
Jurors deliberated 10 hours showing that they respected the process, despite knowing it their hearts they didn’t need any time to conclude that Chauvin killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck. While there’s nothing wrong with Chauvin exhausting his legal remedies, there no material facts Nelson can present that would change the outcome. When it comes to “jury intimidation and potential fear of retribution,” most high profile racially-tinged trials today have potential consequences depending on the outcome to cause riots, looting, arson and anarchy. With the media blaming white society on socio-cultural problems and blight, including racism and poverty, the African American community, under new militant groups like Black Lives Matter, threatens to burn down cities if they don’t get the right verdicts in trials or distribution or resources from the police to the Black community.
Arguing that “jury intimidation or potential fear of retribution” impacted jurors’ objectivity is preposterous. Every member of society in today’s racially-charged atmosphere is intimidated by potential retribution from riots, looting, arson and anarchy, all possible when more white-on-Black police killings take place. Black Lives Matter exempts the African American Community from killings their own, at a far great clip than any members of the law enforcement community, regardless of race. “The Court has already rejected many of these arguments and the State will vigorously oppose them,” said John Sikes, deputy chief of staff for Minnesota Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison. When it comes to Deretk Chauvin trial, Judge Cahill or an appeals court won’t find that the facts of George Floyd’s May 25, 2020 death change one iota. Change of venues or pre-trial publicity don’t change the facts.
Nelson now argues something even more farfetched from the idea that George Floyed died from a drug overdose or a heart attack. Nelson also argues that Hennepin County prosecutors committed “pervasive, prejudicial prosecutorial misconduct,” for allowing the jury to see a simple video of Floyd’s 29-minute, 29-second knee-on-the-neck murder. Where’s the jury misconduct when they all saw the same evidence, as did practically everyone else in America. Whether or not the Floyd family was awarded $27 million March 13 over two week before the trial began March 29, it also doesn’t change the basic facts in evidence. Black 31-year-old juror Brandon Mitchell said it best April 28. “We just felt like the evidence was overwhelming for our verdicts,” Mitchell said, confirming that the video of Floyd’s death spoke for itself. Judge Cahill or an appeals court will reach the same conclusion.
