# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 15889
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/15889 "2020-05-31T16:18:36Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > [Former MPD Officer Derek Chauvin In Custody, Charged With Murder In George Floyd’s Death](https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/derek-chauvin-arrested-george-floyd-death-minneapolis-police-officer/) > > The cynic in me is wary of the “fastest we’ve ever charged” comment. It almost sounds like he’s softballing the defense a rush to justice argument. There’s an [interesting op-ed](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/31/opinion/minnesota-prosecutors-charges-might-lead-an-unjustly-easy-sentence-george-floyds-killer/) in the Boston Globe by Laurence Tribe and Albert Goins. I’m not familiar with Goins, although the story notes that he’s a criminal lawyer with extensive experience dealing with police misconduct in Minnesota. Tribe is one of the nation’s best-known legal scholars. They are very worried that the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin is likely to result in the dismissal of that charge by the judge. Mineesota’s third-degree murder charge, according to Tribe and Goins, is: > [@](#): > > applicable only where someone unintentionally causes death by “reckless or wanton acts … without special regard to their effect on any particular person” — like shooting aimlessly into a crowd. That is, the charge is explicitly designed to deal with situations where the deadly force was not intentionally aimed at the particular person who died. Because Chauvin had his knee directly on Floyd’s neck, it is clear that Chauvin was aiming his actions directly at Floyd, making a third-degree murder charge inappropriate under the statue. Tribe and Goins further note that: > [@](#): > > There is just too much well-settled precedent in Minnesota dealing with the inapplicability of third-degree murder charges where “all the blows were directed towards the victim.” They believe that a second-degree felony murder charge is much more appropriate in this situation, and they call for the Minnesota governor to replace the local prosecutor with the State Attorney General in the case. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942)._