Update: On the 3rd of June charges against Derek Chauvin were upgraded to include second degree murder.
Judging from the video (enlarged screenshot, above), Derek Chauvin enjoyed the act of killing George Floyd, hands in his pockets, nonchalant, rocking his knee pinning Floyd’s neck to the pavement with near full force of his body weight. Then, Chauvin’s former ‘moonlight employer’ says in no uncertain terms Chauvin had exhibited symptoms of cowardice when on the job as security at her night club:
“He seemed afraid when there was an altercation. He always resorted to pulling out his mace and pepper spraying everyone right away, even when I felt it was unwarranted” [1]
So, Chauvin felt ‘brave’ murdering Floyd when his buddies had his back, no doubt disgusting those good cops who should break ranks and condemn in no uncertain terms the culture of cowardice behind police brutality.
Minnesota Statutes Sections 609.19 – Murder in the Second Degree and 609.195 – Murder in the Third Degree [2]
Murder in the 2nd Degree: 1) Killing a human intentionally, but without premeditation (not thinking about or preparing for before), 2) Killing a human while committing or attempting a drive-by shooting, 3) Causing someone’s death without intending the death of anyone, while committing a felony other than criminal sexual conduct or a drive-by shooting, and 4) Causing a death unintentionally, while intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict great physical harm on the victim when the murderer is currently restrained by a protection order (including for domestic violence, harassment, divorce, or any similar protection order) and the victim was the protected party in that order.
Third-degree murder in Minnesota is causing someone’s death by one of two ways: 1) A depraved heart or mind murder, which places others in eminent danger of death and disregarding human life and 2) unintended death by use of scheduled drugs
The penalty for Murder in the 2nd Degree is maximum 40 years. The penalty for Murder in the 3rd Degree is maximum 25 years.
Chauvin is charged with 3rd Degree murder while people are calling for 1st Degree murder charge but that apparently requires element of premeditation (a planned murder.)
How the murder charge could/should be upgraded to 2nd Degree murder and 40 years for Chauvin under Minnesota law is, interestingly…
Causing a death unintentionally, while intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict great physical harm on the victim when the murderer is currently restrained by a protection order (including for domestic violence, harassment, divorce, or any similar protection order) and the victim was the protected party in that order
…because once he’d been handcuffed, Floyd should have been under a DE FACTO protective order protecting his civil rights, particularly his right to life, while under arrest in police custody according to the (widely ignored) rules governing police behavior, which should be construed to constitute a permanent, general purpose protective order.
Hoping the right person sees this and passes it on to those attorneys of influence who can insist Chauvin be put away for 40 years (where the coward will live in fear for the remainder of his days.)
[2] https://statelaws.findlaw.com/minnesota-law/minnesota-second-degree-murder.html
Ronald Thomas West 