News of George Floyd’s death last year in May spread like a wildfire. The video of George Floyd being held by the neck set off worldwide protests against racial injustice. The trials of Derek Chauvin’s case became one of the closely watched court cases all over the world. Hundreds and Thousands of Protests carried out demanding justice against this grueling racial act of a white police officer attacking a black man.
What the verdict contains on George Floyd death’s case?
But finally, now the Justice has been served. The court has announced its final decision on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. The sentencing is set for eight weeks from today. The jury has announced Derek Chauvin guilty on all the three charges in the death of George Floyd:
- A Second Degree Murder conviction carries a 40 year of maximum penalty in prison. Second-degree unintentional murder required the prosecutors to prove that defendant committed the murder while committed a felony. In Derek Chauvin’s case, the alleged felony was assault. So, they only need to prove an intent to commit the assault.
- The third-degree murder conviction carries up to 25 years sentence in prison. This conviction applies to a defendant who kills someone while executing an “eminently dangerous” act.
- A Second Degree Manslaughter carries a penalty of a maximum of 10 years in prison. This requires that the defendant acted with negligence worth blaming by creating an unreasonable risk of murdering someone.
Floyd died in a police assault on May 25, 2020, where, a White police officer, Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. According to them, they were arresting him for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at Cup Foods. The bystander video of Chauvin holding Floyd by the neck sparked a worldwide response and hundreds of protests take place. The trial revolved around the issue that whether Chauvin’s use of force was a real reason for Floyd’s death?
Derek Chauvin Trial
The prosecutors called this a misuse of force. On the other hand, the defense argued that Chauvin did what any responsible officer would have done in similar circumstances. The prosecution argued that George Floyd died because of underlying health issues (asphyxia, cardiac arrhythmia), drug usage, and resisting the officials at the scene. While medical examiner Andrew Baker said, Floyd died from pulmonary cardiac arrest because he was restained by law enforcement officials.
Philonise Floyd was crying after the court and he said:
He explained;
After the verdict, Joe Bidden and Kamala Haris spoke to the family and attorney of Gorge Floyd on phone. Joe Bidden told them; “Nothing is going to make it all better but at least now there’s some justice.”
The trials of three other police officers, who were present at the scene— Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J Alexander Kueng — are expected to happen in August for assisting Chauvin.
This Derek Chauvin Conviction is a first step in serving justice to black lives. The slogan “Black Lives Matter” which became famous after this incident is trending as the number one hashtag on social media platforms. We hope that just like this other black people also get justice and they can live as freely as any other race lives on this planet.
