Powerline: Chauvin trial preview

 The Powerline Blog is based out of Minnesota and is also written by attorneys. They look at the "tale of the tape" for the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis. Chauvin was the Minneapolis Police Officer who's charge with murder in the death of George Floyd. It touched off riots around the nation and protests around the world. Something we still haven't entirely settled down from, just look at what's happened in Portland, Ore. since then.

Either way the Minnesota Attorney General's office is handling the prosecution in this case. Minneapolis is based in Hennepin County and their district attorney's have been sidelined. And I want to share this:

• The court has set up a page for the Chauvin case here. All public filings in the case by the parties or the court are posted on that page. Separate pages have been set up for the three former officers also charged with responsibility for Floyd’s death. The separate pages for their cases are accessible on Chauvin’s page.

Also these thoughts:

• The charges against Chauvin were brought in a lynch mob atmosphere led by Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. They publicly pronounced Chauvin and the other officers guilty many times over last spring and summer.

• Those of us who took up law and/or journalism may have been inspired by Atticus Finch or John Adams or Woodward and Bernstein, but when the time came to face down the mob or talk back to the authorities, the lawyers and media took their places in the crowd.

• Take the Star Tribune, for example. As the lynch mob formed and the city burned, the cat had their tongue. Star Tribune commentary editor D.J. Tice wrote an excellent column on “the challenge of a fair trial for Chauvin.” The column was published on February 20 — a little late in the game. And it stands more or less alone. (I raised the fair trial issue last year in posts including “Random thoughts on the Floyd case.”)

The blogger here Scott Johnson takes a look at the lead prosecutor in this case and the judge and mentions an appeal as far as the other charge to Chauvin of third degree murder which the judge in this case Peter Cahill had dropped. It seems Johnson likes Judge Cahill, however, once the trail begins we'll see how this goes.

Chauvin deserves a free trial, however, there are people out there who believe he is guilty. Better yet they want him to be guilty. Being guilty and wanting someone to be guilty are two different things. I went back and forth myself on this. All I can say is Chauvin is innocent until proven guilty and sadly this is one of those cases where I don't think anyone will be happy with the results.