I’ve not been able to watch the live feed, but I am following the live blog on Legal Insurrection.
Granting their transcription as reasonably accurate, I don’t think the state proved its case. That doesn’t mean Chauvin will be found not guilty, the jury has to know what is waiting for them if they don’t come up with the mob approved verdict, but the prosecution story leaves too many questions unanswered.
The defense closing story seems pretty straightforward. Floyd died not solely of officers’ actions but because he had a long list of medical and drug ailments that were aggravated by his choosing to fight with the officers.
The prosecutor closing story seemed to want to ignore a lot of Floyd’s medical issues and at some points toward the end I thought they were employing the Chewbacca Defense. A lot of use your eyes because they can be trusted more than the medical evidence. Floyd was somebody’s baby, didn’t deserve to die over a counterfeit $20. The angry crowd was a nice crowd. Floyd’s medical condition was perfectly normal and safe, he could have run a marathon. The drugs he took had no effect. I don’t believe the state did enough to overcome the reasonable doubt to impeach the defense theory.
Also, did I miss something about blood oxygen concentration? It seems like the state had an expert testify that lying prone, Floyd’s BOC was down to 45% due to Chauvin’s actions and killed Floyd at the scene. Even pointed out the exact moment on tape when Floyd died. Yet when the CO argument came up, another state witness testified the BOC at the hospital was 98% so CO wasn’t an issue. If Floyd was dead in the street due to Chauvin, how did Floyd’s BOC go from too low to normal at the hospital?