George Floyd death / Derek Chauvin trial - Sidebar week 1

[Soulmagent]

The trial is broadcast - that's pretty public. Essentially everyone in the world can watch.

jmo

This is true for him,and I am still not sure that holds true under the law,not sure it has even been addressed in a court, However everyday in courts that are closed or limited in services and hours ,they are still holding trials and not allowing people in.

 

[Inthedetails]

This is true for him,and I am still not sure that holds true under the law,not sure it has even been addressed in a court, However everyday in courts that are closed or limited in services and hours ,they are still holding trials and not allowing people in.

The trials are not being done in secret. That would be illegal. The public has access to them.

I won't belabor the point. further.

jmo

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I have been wondering about this for a year. Does the limited persons in the court violate his right to a public trial? I think so ..but really I think this is a huge deal for every trial with restrictions on the public. I should have quoted the other post too.. that showed the drawing of the layout , I dunno but it is interesting and I do think a ton of appeals everywhere will be granted on that bases but IANAL.

This is true for him,and I am still not sure that holds true under the law,not sure it has even been addressed in a court, However everyday in courts that are closed or limited in services and hours ,they are still holding trials and not allowing people in.

The last time I looked just on one site was 64,000+ public viewers all over the world, more than I have EVER seen, on the Washington Post YouTube livestream.

Yeah, this is a public trial. No way in heck MOO that someone could say it is a "secret trial"on appeal to say not open for the public to see and violating his right to a public trial.

MOO

This is the states FIRST media trial! They did due to COVID MOO in their statements of why they changed. Just for this reason. MOO

 

[Soulmagent]

The last time I looked just on one site was 64,000+ public viewers all over the world, more than I have EVER seen, on the Washington Post YouTube livestream.

Yeah, this is a public trial. No way in heck MOO that someone could say it is a "secret trial"on appeal to say not open for the public to see and violating his right to a public trial.

MOO

I know his trial is public, I was really asking because of all trials being held ..I said for a year I have wondered about this . So It seems that live steaming the trial might bypass some of the meaning of the legal definition of public ,but i was looking for other peoples thoughts on the issue.

 

[Algo214]

I know his trial is public, I was really asking because of all trials being held ..I said for a year I have wondered about this . So It seems that live steaming the trial might bypass some of the meaning of the legal definition of public ,but i was looking for other peoples thoughts on the issue.

FWIW I hope this is the "new reality" of trials, every single one of them should be out in the open to anyone that wants to watch via streaming, with the logical provisions to protect privacy of people that should be protected like children or the jury.

 

[JerseyGirl]

I have been wondering about this for a year. Does the limited persons in the court violate his right to a public trial? I think so ..but really I think this is a huge deal for every trial with restrictions on the public. I should have quoted the other post too.. that showed the drawing of the layout , I dunno but it is interesting and I do think a ton of appeals everywhere will be granted on that bases but IANAL.

In June, following a three-month COVID-prompted statewide shutdown of the courts, in-person criminal trials began to slowly resume in Hennepin County District Court and others throughout the state under a pilot program. Administered by the Minnesota Judicial Branch, the program requires courtrooms to be certified for trials by adhering to an extensive COVID-19 Preparedness Plan -- a 13-page document providing guidelines on a plethora of precautions from seating jurors 6 feet apart to placing large-screen monitors in front of the panel to view exhibits, rather than handling them.

How COVID will make Derek Chauvin's trial in George Floyd's death look like no other

 

[Lilibet]

I know his trial is public, I was really asking because of all trials being held ..I said for a year I have wondered about this . So It seems that live steaming the trial might bypass some of the meaning of the legal definition of public ,but i was looking for other peoples thoughts on the issue.

<modsnip>

IMO There is a balance between the right to a speedy trial and having the trial open to the public literally. It really wouldn’t be reasonable to shut down the courts for the duration of Covid. The backlog would be terrible. So allowing the public to view the trial on video stream and having at least two seats available to the public seems to satisfy whatever requirement there would be. I can’t imagine appeals getting very far on this basis. But IANAL.

 

[sds71]

The Court’s attached order seeks to accommodate the interests served by the current rule by expanding audio and video coverage only as necessary to vindicate the Defendants’ constitutional right to a public trial and the public’s and press rights of access to criminal trials in the unique circumstances currently prevailing in the COVID-19 pandemic and the intense public and media interest in these cases. By doing so, the Court is confident that “the public may see [that Defendants] [are] fairly dealt with and not unjustly condemned, and that the presence of interested spectators may keep [their] triers keenly alive to a sense of their responsibility and the importance of their functions.”
https://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgo...2646_Order-Regarding-Audio-Video-Coverage.pdf

 

[sds71]

The murder trial of Derek Chauvin is not the first time a Minneapolis police officer has gotten into trouble for using force on a handcuffed suspect.

In 2017, an MPD cop was convicted of assault and sentenced to six months in the county workhouse after he shattered a suspect's jaw with a kick during an arrest. The year before, two officers were caught on camera punching a handcuffed, and apparently intoxicated man. In the latter case, both were fired, but later won their jobs back through arbitration. The trend isn't recent. More than 23 years ago the city paid a nearly $54,000 settlement to a man after he was punched and kicked by an officer who later pleaded guilty to federal charges in the incident.

A Star Tribune review of news reports and court records found at least 11 instances since 1995 of Minneapolis officers accused of punching, kicking, or otherwise assaulting people who were restrained. It's unknown how many actual instances there are, since not every case may attract media attention or result in lawsuits or criminal charges.

While in several cases officers were terminated, only two had been charged for their conduct before Chauvin.
Chauvin case shines spotlight on Minneapolis police history of mistreatment of handcuffed suspects

 

[SouthAussie]

I have been wondering about this for a year. Does the limited persons in the court violate his right to a public trial? I think so ..but really I think this is a huge deal for every trial with restrictions on the public. I should have quoted the other post too.. that showed the drawing of the layout , I dunno but it is interesting and I do think a ton of appeals everywhere will be granted on that bases but IANAL.

That is why the trial is being streamed. To make it a public trial.

In Australia we are doing similar. You can log onto a trial (via a court portal) and view it, if you wish. Just like you previously could have rocked up to the courtroom to view a trial, if you wanted to.

We don't have to be sitting in the courtroom for it to be a public trial.

(Apologies, I now see many responses to the question)

 

[Wild Rose]

I believe it was to make the jury aware of how the bystanders were all different age groups, races, genders etc but they all knew what they were seeing was wrong.

I remember as a young teen, a local murder trial was live on TV many years ago and it saddened me tremendously to see a rape and murder elderly victim's body and thought they should have protected her. No one should be remembered this way.

 

[SouthAussie]

Michael Friedman, who previously served on a police disciplinary review panel, said ....... Chauvin's actions reminded him of "the most common reason for excessive force that I saw — was not responding to someone who was physically challenging, but what I would call retaliatory control."

He noted examples like when someone flees police, or they are resisting authority or what was alleged in Floyd's case, that he refused to be brought into the squad car. Friedman said such instances can bring out a certain mentality among many officers, particularly of the earlier generation, that they pile on force as a means of retaliation to maintain control.

Greg Hestness, a former MPD deputy chief, said .... "Chauvin's acts were not sort of knee-jerk, it wasn't a quick reaction, there were eight to nine minutes there" ... "I mean, to this day, I don't know what he was doing kneeling on that man for eight to nine minutes."

Chauvin case draws inevitable comparisons to another high-profile police murder trial

 

[Gibbo214]

I have been wondering about this for a year. Does the limited persons in the court violate his right to a public trial? I think so ..but really I think this is a huge deal for every trial with restrictions on the public. I should have quoted the other post too.. that showed the drawing of the layout , I dunno but it is interesting and I do think a ton of appeals everywhere will be granted on that bases but IANAL.

I cant see how that would be. The public have no influence over the verdict and in cases where the defendent pleads guilty, there is no trial, just sentencing.

 

[Gibbo214]

I think a mother or father at the very least. I’m guessing he doesn’t have any kids. The wife rolled out immediately. That’s rough!

I think the divorce was a financial move to keep the assets of the marriage in case of civil cases. He signed all assets over to her.

 

[Rocky1]

That is why the trial is being streamed. To make it a public trial.

In Australia we are doing similar. You can log onto a trial (via a court portal) and view it, if you wish. Just like you previously could have rocked up to the courtroom to view a trial, if you wanted to.

We don't have to be sitting in the courtroom for it to be a public trial.

(Apologies, I now see many responses to the question)

In the US, it's all up to the judge to determine whether or not he/she will allow cameras. That is unless it's a Federal trial in which you'll never see a camera.

 

[CrimeAway]

FWIW I hope this is the "new reality" of trials, every single one of them should be out in the open to anyone that wants to watch via streaming, with the logical provisions to protect privacy of people that should be protected like children or the jury.

I would love it if every jurisdiction could offer public access online for at least some trials. I personally think that having a mandatory civics class in high school, where the class could follow the major aspects of a trial and understand the workings of the court system would be a great thing.

 

[Cubby]

I have been wondering about this for a year. Does the limited persons in the court violate his right to a public trial? I think so ..but really I think this is a huge deal for every trial with restrictions on the public. I should have quoted the other post too.. that showed the drawing of the layout , I dunno but it is interesting and I do think a ton of appeals everywhere will be granted on that bases but IANAL.

Do you mean right to a speedy trial? Covid is delaying trials, but this case made it to trial in 10 months.

 

[Rocky1]

Today I thought was a good day for the prosecution.
Zimmerman was a good witness.
IMO, Nelson dropped the ball when Zimmerman claimed that a Neckhold "could be" fatal.
I expected Nelson to ask him during his entire career, in which the Neckhold was allowed to be used, how many people died in police custody from using a Neckhold? The answer is zero. There has never been anyone that has died from a Neckhold in Mpls.

 

[Rocky1]

Do you mean right to a speedy trial? Covid is delaying trials, but this case made it to trial in 10 months.

The time limit for a "Speedy Trial"is 70 days.

 

[Rocky1]

Chauvin agreed to a plea deal where he'd plead guilty to third degree murder just a few days after Floyd's death, but Attorney General Barr wouldn't allow it. This could have been over a long time ago.