Justice For Derek Chauvin
/We often hear about somebody languishing in prison who continues to claim their innocence and that some advocacy group continues to fight for their release or a new trial. Pro Publica is such a group but there are others. Neither they nor any other criminal advocacy group usually crusades for a convicted person unless they belong to one of what government labels as a protected class. Race (specifically black) is usually at the top of that list but it also includes gender, sexual preference and maybe a few other minor groups that I missed.
It is not unusual for convicted criminals to continue to maintain their innocence long after they got their day in court. When high profile, well funded advocacy groups take up the cause of a convicted prison inmate, they have the means and ability to convince people of someone’s innocence by using cherry picked pieces of the case that favor the defendant.
There are a number of cliches used about justice in the United States such as equal justice under law, justice is blind, innocent until proven guilty, but my favorite is one attributed to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who said justice delayed is justice denied. This one fits the case I am going to resurrect.
There is a police officer who sits in prison today for a crime that he did not commit. To make matters worse, he was denied justice after being charged. Every person charged with a crime is entitled to due process under the U.S. Constitution. Part of that is to be represented by competent counsel, to be confronted by and be able to cross examine accusers or witnesses and to be able to challenge any evidence being used to convict and to have the prosecutor hand over to the defense lawyer what is called exculpatory evidence, that is any evidence that the prosecution has that might prove or help the defendant prove his or her innocence.
For those saying to yourself as you read this that everybody with even minimal knowledge of how our criminal justice system works already knows this, I will ask, oh really? Because we forget all these basic concepts of justice when it is being used to go after someone not in a protected class or is part of a group considered persona non grata by liberals. That would be former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who was at the heart of a police use of force involving suspect George Floyd. Yes, that George Floyd.
Ever since I learned more about this investigation and trial, I became more convinced that Derek Chauvin and other MPD officers at the scene were denied due process under law at trial. A known police hating Minnesota attorney general took up the politically motivated prosecution and was hell bent not on getting justice for George Floyd but to give the cop hating crowd a sacrificial lamb to slaughter. This was not a fair trial, it was a miscarriage of justice, a straight up witch hunt. Derek Chauvin being a white male and a police officer was not a part of any protected class. He went into this with two strikes against him and thus no chance of getting due process or a fair trial. He was guilty until proven innocent.
Ever since the Minneapolis police officers were unjustly convicted, I have been on a crusade to get due process for these officers. I have written about it and spoken about this at public events and in television interviews. For those who have not seen it yet, I highly recommend that you watch the documentary, The Fall of Minneapolis. It was done by a respected and award-winning reporter from Minneapolis. If after seeing this and you are still not convinced that due process was denied, then you do not believe in a fair trial or equal justice under law.
During the trial, a MPD training officer, Inspector Katie Blackwell testified under oath that the technique applied by Chauvin was not a trained technique or standard practice at the MPD. She lied. Yes, it was and yes, it is. The MPD police chief at the time Medaria Arredondo also testified under oath that the technique applied by Chauvin to restrain a resisting George Floyd was not taught as part of restraining a combative suspect. He lied as well. The jury was not allowed to see that section of the training manual that talks about using a knee to restrain a combative suspect. A witness who did not perform the autopsy on Floyd was allowed to testify as an expert witness on the cause of death. Floyd was not suffocated or choked to death. When Floyd was transported to the hospital, he was still alive. He died in route. The autopsy showed that Floyd had fatal levels of fentanyl in his system and was in generally bad health that contributed to his death. This sham of a trial was a disgrace.
It is being reported that an appeal filing has been made by defense lawyers for Derek Chauvin of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. While some are calling for a pardon, I think that is premature. A pardon would not erase that he was wrongfully convicted. He should be granted a new trial and released at once pending a decision by the prosecution to retry all these officers. If they were smart, they would not retry this case. The truth might come out. I Know that Blackwell and Arredondo are hoping there is no new trial.
If our justice system has any ethical or moral fiber left, they will forget about the politics of releasing Chauvin and granting a new trial or the fear and possibility of more riots. They need to have the courage to do the right thing.
Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of America’s Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com
