Why is the Case of George Floyd’s Death Not Simple?

Most of us have seen the footage. Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, places his knee on the neck of a crime suspect named George Floyd. Chauvin applies his weight, and keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck, on the ground, for over eight minutes. We hear Floyd complain that he cannot breathe, and Chauvin does not move. Floyd becomes unresponsive, and then never gets up again.

Is this not voluntary manslaughter? If not, how it is not?

Jonathan Simon, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, explained why this case is not an open-and-shut case, despite the video evidence. He spoke with reporter Edward Lempinen in late March of 2021, in an interview published on the university’s website.

“Acquittal has to be considered more likely than not,” said Simon.

Chauvin’s training as a police officer will be called into question. Chauvin’s motivation in Floyd’s killing will also be debated and explored. The Minneapolis Police Department fired Chauvin shortly after Floyd’s killing. But will he be found guilty of manslaughter?

In this case, prosecutors are not trying to prove that Chauvin intentionally tried to kill Floyd. They are attempting to prove that Chauvin is to blame for an unintentional death.

The key to the prosecution’s case is showing that Floyd’s death was unlawful. They are trying to prove second-degree murder, as caused by assault in the third degree.

Simon says that the prosecution’s case will be strengthened by the fact that bystanders were telling Chauvin, at the time, that his actions were hurting Floyd to the point that he might kill him.

What may sway the jury to side with the defense, however, is the question of Floyd’s health. If Floyd’s drug use, or his poor health, can be shown to have weakened his condition significantly, then Chauvin’s actions may not be provable as second-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter in the eyes of the law.