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It's now just under three weeks until the trial of George Floyd's killer begins. Now would be a great time for folks to mentally prepare for the very real, even likely, possibility that Derek Chauvin will not be found guilty. To simplify why, it relates to the...(1/5)
specificity of his murder charge. Chauvin was initially charged with 3rd degree murder (+ 3rd degree manslaughter). Shortly after being charged with this, Minnesota Police Union lawyer Eric Nelson convinced the judge to drop this charge, replacing it with...(2/5)
2nd degree murder (+ 2nd degree manslaughter). Wondering why an attorney would be happy to give his client a more serious charge is probably one's first thought. To simplify, 3rd degree murder is unintentional murder, whereas 2nd degree is intentional. So...(3/5)
It now falls on the prosecutors to prove to a jury, without a doubt, that a "cop just doing his job" was actually intentionally killing a black man. A second degree murder charge is much more challenging to secure a conviction for, especially when it's for a cop. The...(4/5)
prosecutors have twice now asked the judge to re-instate the third degree murder charge, as recently as Feb. 5. The judge's decision has so far held. So unless the prosecutors can convince a jury that Chauvin truly had intent to kill George Floyd, he will likely go free 
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~ also, please, if any law experts see this thread, correct any errors in my line of thinking, because I am absolutely in no way, shape, or form a criminal law attorney or prosecutor, and your insight / corrections would be valuable.
