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Death of George Floyd: after the Black Lives Matter wave, the trial opens under high tension

2021-03-07T17:05:10.773Z


Derek Chauvin, principal police officer implicated in the death of George Floyd, sees his trial begin this Monday in Minneapolis, in the United States.


"The most important trial in the country".

In the eyes of Tim Walz, Governor of the State of Minnesota, the historical significance of the event is not in doubt.

This Monday opens in Minneapolis, United States, the trial of Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old police officer accused of having killed George Floyd, on May 25.

The torment of this 46-year-old African-American was captured by the phones of many witnesses who witnessed, frightened, his agony.

For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the police officer kept his knee on his victim's neck while two of his colleagues helped hold him down and a fourth tried to ward off the curious.

“I can't breathe”, the father of the family keeps repeating during this unbearable sequence.

"You're gonna kill me, man," he announces, sadly premonitory.

A colossus turned martyr

At 9:25 p.m., his death was pronounced.

The police had been called less than an hour and a half earlier, the employees of the grocery store suspecting the native of Houston (Texas) of having used… a forged 20 dollar bill.

The death of George Floyd shook America, sparking protests across the country that sometimes turned into rioting.

All over the world, the images of the last breaths of this colossus of nearly 2 m have made him the martyr of police violence and racism.

"We want justice," shouted the protesters.

The hour has come.

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The legal proceedings were split in two.

Initially, Derek Chauvin, imprisoned at the end of May then released last October after the payment of a deposit of 1 million dollars (850,000 €), appears alone for second degree murder and manslaughter.

Given the health constraints, the judge decided that his three colleagues - Thomas Lane, Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao -, prosecuted for complicity, would be tried in August.

The state prosecutor's office had called for a joint trial: for the consistency of the handling of the case but also probably by calculation, the three officers being rather inclined to charge their colleague in the event of a joint appearance.

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VIDEO.

Who is Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of the murder of George Floyd?

The hearing will begin with the selection of the twelve titular jurors and four substitutes.

A step that should take three weeks.

Defense and prosecution each have the right to challenge several jurors.

This tactical battle is crucial since, to obtain a conviction, the jury must rule unanimously.

The actual debates should begin at the end of March and last between four and six weeks.

Beyond the images, the personality and the past of the accused will weigh heavily.

A member of the Minneapolis Police Department for nineteen years at the time of his arrest, Derek Chauvin had been the subject of seventeen complaints from individuals, for his lack of discipline or his brutality, but had only been punished by two modest letters of reprimand.

The prosecution has obtained that six of these antecedents are raised during the trial.

The Minneapolis courthouse area has been completely barricaded for fear of further riots. / LP / Philippe de Poulpiquet  

The officer's defense pleads not guilty.

By arguing first that the death of George Floyd is consecutive to his drug use (the deceased had traces of Fentanyl, an opiate, in the blood).

However, following an independent expertise commissioned by the family of the African-American, the coroner admitted that George Floyd had died of a homicide after having suffered a cardiac and pulmonary arrest because of the combined effect of the arrest and immobilization on his neck.

Derek Chauvin's lawyer also maintains that his client acted according to the rules.

This trial opens in a context of fear, the riots following the death of George Floyd having left traces.

Downtown Minneapolis has bunkerized.

The debates will be fully filmed and broadcast live.

On the other hand, jurors will never appear on the air.

The weight that will weigh on their shoulders is already considerable.

As if part of their country's future would depend on their votes.

Source: leparis

All tech articles on 2021-03-07

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