{"id":158804,"date":"2021-04-23T13:53:28","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T08:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=158804"},"modified":"2021-11-18T17:32:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T12:02:16","slug":"george-floyd-murder-trial-derek-chauvin-darnella-frazier-ellison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/top-news-of-the-day\/news\/george-floyd-murder-trial-derek-chauvin-darnella-frazier-ellison\/","title":{"rendered":"George Floyd murder trial: How lawyers nailed case against Derek Chauvin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Kenneth Tiven in the US<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The team of lawyers, who succeeded in prosecuting the US police officer who killed George Floyd, deserves an A+ rating for the precision of their work. They had a substantial edge because a bystander recorded an unusually long and steady video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the mobile phone video made it obvious that last year police officers had lied in their written report about the death of a suspect in a misdemeanor involving a possible counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is rare in the US for a policeman to be convicted of mishandling or killing a suspect. Defense lawyers are adept at raising extenuating circumstances sufficient to convince some jurors to opt for acquittal or a hung jury decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spanner in the usual grinding gears of justice began with that video which went globally viral and kicked the #BlackLivesMatter movement into high gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within 24 hours, the police chief fired Derek Chauvin and the three officers who were with him. The case ended this week with Chauvin guilty of two murder charges and a manslaughter charge decided in less than 10 hours by a jury. He is now in solitary confinement awaiting sentencing in about eight weeks for what could be 40 years of prison time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Americans, in general, breathed a sigh at a verdict that supported exactly what we saw on the video shot by Darnella Frazier, the 17-year-old with a sense of right and wrong. The defense arguments were an alternate reality the jury rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The back-story is fascinating. The State of Minnesota took charge of the case from local authorities and used three teams of lawyers in a well-coordinated effort to make their case as precise and appeals free as it could be. There was none of the flamboyance and grandstanding that has been the hallmark of too many high profile murder cases in America. Think OJ Simpson in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, Attorney General Keith Ellison, a civil rights lawyer before becoming a Congressman and now Minnesota\u2019s top law enforcement officer, paired two of his prosecutors Matthew Frank and Erin Eldridge with two outside attorneys, Jerry Blackwell and Steve Schleicher, both experienced <\/strong>trial lawyers. Their preparation was meticulous, especially in anticipating and dismantling the defense\u2019s expert witnesses on cross-examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They knew the videotape was unambiguous so they emphasized it as an accurate record of what happened. Schleicher saying in closing, \u201cThis case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first, when you saw that video. It is exactly that. You can believe your eyes. It\u2019s exactly what you believed. It\u2019s exactly what you saw with your eyes. It\u2019s exactly what you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n