Why Derek Chauvin is GUILTY of FIRST DEGREE murder according to the law.

Why is Chauvin guilty of first degree murder? First degree murder has several elements which must be met. First, of course, there must be a death at the hands of another, defined as homicide. The medical examiner and medical specialists and every witness who has testified so far testified that this was a homicide, so that element is proved beyond reasonable doubt. George Floyd died as the direct result of Derek Chauvins actions, in a coordinated three on one PHYSICAL ATTACK on another.

Second, the accused must have had a primary responsibility for that death. So far all of the medical experts agree Derek Chauvins actions were the primary cause of Floyds death, so absent some new information this element is presumably met.

Third, He had to know his actions would result in death, the intent part of he definition. We heard testimony Chauvin was trained specifically to avoid positional asphyxia when subduing suspects, and we saw him ignore that training for a total of over 9 minutes. Intent. Once a suspect is in handcuffs he is not to be held prone for more time than is necessary to get him handcuffed because breathing is impaired in that position. My feeling on it is Chauvin heard Floyd complaining he couldn't breathe before he actually couldn't, and thought he could say he thought he must have been able to breathe because he was talking, and therefor was lying after held on the ground.

The police chief and trainer both testified Chauvin received this training and knowledge, that death was the probable result f this specific action.


The last element of first degree murder is premeditation, to have time to change his mind and to decide not to anyway, the premeditation and most depraved element, and why first degree murder is the worst type.

We can assume that Chauvin had at least four minutes to decide not to kill Floyd, since that is how long after he stopped breathing and moving and no pulse was found before Chauvin finally got up off of him. Chauvin knew at that point when no pulse was felt that he was "finishing him off", and making sure he died. AT this point CPR could have saved him, but Chauvin didn't try it and didn't allow anyone else to including a trained paramedic.

There is no way anyone can claim Chauvin didn't realize what he was doing would kill Floyd, because he was specifically trained that it it would, called positional asphyxia. The conscious and unconscious neck restraint was explained in detail in trial testimony, that continuing it after unconsciousness occurred would surely result in death in minutes and Chauvin was trained to know this.

I have seen so many people who claim they could and would survive what was done to Floyd, and I can tell you though my own personal experience, you would not. The position of Floyd and the weight of two men pressing down on his back and neck made getting the oxygen he needed to live completely impossible, and in my opinion based on what I saw and the information I have heard, Chauvin knew he was killing Floyd, intended to kill Floyd, and had plenty of time to think about it and change his mind.

Alot of people will argue the police have a hard job, and a lot of people make excuses for them when they abuse suspects that sound like this. They are also well paid to do their jobs, and are not forced into that line of work by anyone. I have also seen so many people say polcie shoudl be given privileged latitude because of the difficulty and courage their jobs require, and the danger they are exposed to. Let me remind you, all of us are exposed to the same exact dangers, and most of us dont have twenty armed men to back us up. ANd we certainly doent have the latitude to defend ourselves. Try to shoot someone because you saw a gun in their hand and see how fast you get locked up. And Ill tell you something else, if YOU and three of your friends had done this exact same thing to ANYONE, you'd be on trial for first degree murder. I think almost all of us here realize this, but there is a certain percentage of people who believe police should be held to special privileged standards. I think the opposite, I think people trained and paid to enforce THE LAW should be held to a HIGHER STANDAND of legal and moral behavior, not a lower one.