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George Floyd and the protests.


Ms. Spam
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6 hours ago, Zathras said:

I know you address some of this above, but don't murder trials have rights to appeal, anyway?  I am pretty sure they do, so that is to be expected.  I wouldn't blame the judge so much as Maxine Walters is an idiot and should have kept her mouth shut, instead of trying to glom on for attention.

That said, if it wasn't her idiocy, I am sure there would be a lawyer somewhere to find another reason for appeal, anyway.  We will see how it shakes out.  If Chauvin gets a relatively light sentence, he may wave his appeal, for fear of doing worse the next time.  

It should also be noted that appeal does not equate to an automatic retrial.  It just means that the defense has the right to appeal to a higher court, if there was something done incorrectly within the trial itself.   Maxine Walters can say whatever, but because the jury was sequestered, her comments had no bearing on the trial itself. 

As for the judge not declaring a mistrial, that is his right as a judge.  My understanding is that it takes a higher court to reverse his ruling (throw it out), and if that higher court refuses to hear the case, then the ruling stands. 

Every trial has rights to appeal, so I’m not sure what you mean. There are always technical points to argue, because our system is run by humans.

And the jury was not sequestered. Not sure where you got that idea. Sequestered juries are incredibly rare.

And responding to Spam saying that Rep Walters wasn’t in the chain of command (what does that even mean?) you have a major leader in our country saying things that can easily be taken as calling for violence against the jury if the acquired him. I get that wasn’t her intent, but it also wasn’t clear that she didn’t mean that. Because of her, it is certainly possible that Chauvin could still walk away from this a free man. 

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Every trial has rights to appeal, so I’m not sure what you mean. There are always technical points to argue, because our system is run by humans.

My point was that we knew it would likely be appealed no matter what, so saying Maxine Walters will cause an appeal or cause the verdict to be thrown out is moot in my view.  Also appeal does not necessarily equal new trial or vacating the original verdict.  I was maybe stating the obvious but wanted to be clear what I meant.

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And the jury was not sequestered. Not sure where you got that idea. Sequestered juries are incredibly rare.

I am pretty sure that they were sequestered once they started deliberating.  If you have info to the contrary, I'll take your word for it. But I could swear that they were sequestered Monday and Tuesday.

 

In any event, I think pretty much the world, including the Minneapolis PD and probably the police union are against Chauvin.  I mean the prosecution had a team, the police union provided 1 lawyer to Chauvin, and that probably  was the bare minimum required.  I think you are over-estimating the idea that this will all be turned on appeal and Chauvin will get off.  Like you said, law is run by humans.  Once someone is convicted, and unless there was a huge mistake or even intentional improprieties from the prosecution, convictions are incredibly hard to overturn.  I think the prosecution case was pretty air tight, and there isn't any wiggle room for Chauvin. 

Also, if Chauvin gets a minimal sentence for having no criminal record, which is likely, he may only end up serving 10-12 years or so, and may get out on good behavior, cutting the jail time in half.  He may be advised by his attorney to not press his luck with a new trial.  Especially considering he was convicted on all three counts.  I just don't see an out for him, unless it is proved that say Maxine Walters directly influenced the jurors.  But that would mean the jurors watched the news when they shouldn't have. 

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I’m not saying he will be free, I’m just saying that there’s a chance and it’s because an important person in our country got mouthy.

After 4 years of Trump, it’s especially easy to see this as a non-issue, but her actions were every bit as bad as Trump. She should be held responsible, but the Democrats of course won’t do it, and the Republicans are just as guilty of protecting Trump.

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9 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

I’m not saying he will be free, I’m just saying that there’s a chance and it’s because an important person in our country got mouthy.

After 4 years of Trump, it’s especially easy to see this as a non-issue, but her actions were every bit as bad as Trump. She should be held responsible, but the Democrats of course won’t do it, and the Republicans are just as guilty of protecting Trump.

I suppose there is a chance.  Sure.  Crazier things have happened.  But going free because of Maxine Walters specifically, I think the chances are low.

And I think politicians need to STFU about this case.  Justice was served with a favorable outcome.  Being a "Johnny come lately"  to get free publicity while stoking racial tensions is exactly what Trump did, and wrong for either side to do.

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I agree that it’s a really slim chance, and yes, they were sequestered during deliberations. I don’t think we’re really that far apart, I’m just afraid that there’s still chance that America will eff this up, because it’s what we do.

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  • 2 months later...

So Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years. A  little more than half of the 40 he could have gotten. So, is that enough?  

In addition to  being a former cop in prison, Chauvin is the most hated man on the planet right now, so I think he will end up killed (or suicide) in prison at some point.  It might be just 22.5 years, but I think it will amount to be a life sentence w/o parole. 

Edit: for the record, I think he should have got at least what the prosecution asked for, which was 30 years.  

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13 hours ago, Cerina said:

If he hadn't been a cop, he would have gotten at least 30. If he'd been black, he'd have gotten the maximum. 

I find the debate on whether or not the sentence is too long because at that length it may not rehab him.  You never hear that debate for a minority.  He should get more because he was a cop.  If I was convicted of child abuse, I would get longer. 

And go after whomever wrote the police report...

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16 hours ago, Zathras said:

So Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years. A  little more than half of the 40 he could have gotten. So, is that enough?  

In addition to  being a former cop in prison, Chauvin is the most hated man on the planet right now, so I think he will end up killed (or suicide) in prison at some point.  It might be just 22.5 years, but I think it will amount to be a life sentence w/o parole. 

Edit: for the record, I think he should have got at least what the prosecution asked for, which was 30 years.  

He is the most hated man in jail by convicts..there are many that feel he was the victim and will be a martyr.  If he does survive prison (and he probably will because he will be in solitary or have special protection) he will be welcomed with open arms by many. 

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35 minutes ago, Hobbes said:

He is the most hated man in jail by convicts..there are many that feel he was the victim and will be a martyr.  If he does survive prison (and he probably will because he will be in solitary or have special protection) he will be welcomed with open arms by many. 

I wish I could say you were wrong, but the fact is you are sadly right that there are people who would support Chauvin.  I think there still is a good potential he could get jumped, but if he is in solitary or in a special cell, you are probably right.

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40 minutes ago, Hobbes said:

I find the debate on whether or not the sentence is too long because at that length it may not rehab him.  You never hear that debate for a minority.  He should get more because he was a cop.  If I was convicted of child abuse, I would get longer. 

And go after whomever wrote the police report...

yeah, cops should be held to a higher standard, especially in this case.  I think he was to a point, because he could have got only 12 years, but the judge did take into account the cruelty of the murder.  I think the question for many is was it enough and if he should have got the max, or at least 30 years.  I heard that if he had plead guilty, he might have only got 10 years, so at least he didn't get that.  People would be rioting. 

 

On a side note, I thought it was interesting Chauvin wasn't even very apologetic when he made his statement before sentecing. I think that is something that also has people upset.  

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