Dave Garland
Posted at 5:47am
Dave Garland wrote:
I'm not a participant in Black Lives Matter. But you haven't waited for the
trial either, though you play the part of a defense lawyer. So maybe we should
let it rest (I'm sure they're tired of it). If a crime was committed by
Chauvin, then the others are accessories. If not, then there's nothing for them
to be accessories to. We shouldn't demonize (or heroize) any perp until after
they've been convicted, no matter what they've allegedly done. Right?
My response to Dave Garland:
Wrong! And just by referring to them as as “perp” you are again implying that
they are guilty, just as you were when you were accusing Chauvin of having
"crushed" Floyd’s throat. People are to be presumed innocent until proven
guilty. They are not guilty until proven innocent. I think that has to be the
position of the state and the courts. I think individuals can presume
otherwise, and even say what they think. I think it is ok to say you think
someone is guilty, but it is not ok to say someone is guilty, until they have
been found guilty by a court.
Furthermore, I don’t think it is right, in the George Floyd case, to say he was
killed. That too has to be determined by a court. I have been making the
mistake of saying George Floyd was killed myself, but that was wrong. I just
came to the conclusion that it wrong to refer to it as a killing recently.
After reading the autopsy report yesterday, though, it is clear that that issue
is far form settled. As I mentioned before, the autopsy says “No
life-threatening injuries identified,” but it mentions a litany of other
possible causes of death, including possible drug overdose from multiple
substances. COVID-19 could also be a cause, as it is known to persist in some
individuals for months. One definite cause of death that was mentioned is
“cardiopulmonary arrest.” It also describes many abnormalities of his heart,
any one one of which could have killed him. The question is to what extent, if
any, the cardiac arrest was caused by the police “subdual, restraint, and neck
compression,” or by other causes. If, as the changing documents claim: early
results "revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic
asphyxia or strangulatio,” as claimed by the family's autopsy report, then the
only question left in determining whether or not Floyd’s death was as a result
of a homicide is if it was also caused by the “subdual, restraint, and neck
compression.” The Hennepin County autopsy report says,”the cause of death was
"cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and
neck compression."
That wording is not at all clear to me. Does it mean Floyd’s death complicated,
as in interfered with or hindered “law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck
compression?” Seems unlikely, but even if the autopsy, other law enforcement
agencies, such as the BCA or the FBI, or even the prosecutor claim it was a
homicide, that doesn’t legally make it so unless and until a jury agrees with
that position.
I am certainly not a “defense attorney” for Chauvin. My only question is, is he
guilty of murder not whether or he is guilty of any crime. I think he is guilty
of a crime, but whether or not he is guilty of murder depends on whether or not
Floyd died of a homicide, rather than some other cause. I think after viewing
the videos, that he is at least guilty of assault and maybe a whole host of
civil rights violations.
But, as I stated earlier, if I come to the conclusion that he is guilty of
anything, that does not give me the right to say “he is guilty”, only to say,
“I think he is guilty”. If I were charged with a crime, that is what I would
want for myself and I suspect that you to, as well as most of the readers of
this forum would not want to be pronounced guilty without a trial. Furthermore,
I don’t think it is right to, publicly at least, even say, I think someone is
guilty of a crime, until the investigation is complete. If not we will have
more situations where, like in Minneapolis recently, a riot began after a man
who had committed suicide, was suspected of having been shot by the police. It
is especially important for elected officials and even candidates for office
not to make such pronouncement, or even to imply that they think someone is
guilty of a crime prior to an investigation.
I agree with Heather McDonald. She said in her video presentation “The Truth
About Crime, Race, and Policing in America, regarding he Floyd killing,
”Because Mayor Frey, claimed the day after George Floyd died.: ‘Being Black in
America should not be a death sentence.’ That statement coupled with the claim
of an epidemic of Black men being killed by the police, resulted in an
explosion of violence in Minneapolis and around the country.”
I do not agree with your statement, “If a crime was committed by Chauvin, then
the others are accessories.” Just because they were there does not make any of
them accessories. Whether or not they were accessories, would be determined by
whether or not they knew that a crime was being committed, and whether or not
they could have reasonably prevented that crime from taking place and perhaps
other factors. I don’t think any of the other three officers will be found
guilty of any crime, and I especially don’t think Lane will be, or should be.
His charges should be dropped immediately and he should be thanked in some way
for attempting to save Floyd’s life at some risk to his own.
Thank you for engaging with me in this conversation. If not for this, I would
not have gone to the effort of carefully reading the autopsy reports. I may
then, still be, based on biased an uninformed reports in the media, making
unfounded claims that George Floyd was "killed". I don’t know if he was or not
but I am now much less certain of it, after reading that report.
CJ Sparrow