Media, PA Civil Rights Attorney Analyzes Derek Chauvin Murder Trial and Legal Strategies

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Assessment and legal commentary by criminal lawyer Enrique L1 Latoison on the trial of former cop Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd murder.

Video Transcript:

this is nbc news day one has wrapped up in the trial the world is watching now the murder trial of Derek Chauvin the former police officer charged with killing George Floyd the prosecution opened its case with the cell phone video that went viral showing Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes after he was handcuffed and forced to the ground in minneapolis prosecutors saying Chauvin used excessive force killing Floyd but the defense said Chauvin did exactly what he was trained to do and argued drugs played a role in Floyd’s death witnesses today included a bystander and a dispatcher come from the back of the squad to the ground and my instincts were telling me that something’s wrong his reading was getting tremendously heavy and tremendously harder for him to breathe and you actually could hear him you could see him struggling to actually gas for air the first witness is on the stand today the trial is expected to last two to four weeks and for insight we’re joined now by nbc legal analyst Elrique L1 Latoison Enrique thanks for being here as we said prosecutors opened with that graphic and disturbing video of George Floyd’s death on the street there how does that do you think set the tone for this trial well it says it a message from the beginning this is why we’re here this is what happened looked at what happened watch that video and the jury watched that video for eight and a half nine minutes long and you sit there and you watch it and it’s silence and this is what they want to send this message now you know the defense when you learn in law school is when you have something bad get it over with get it done so i’m sure the defense was happy to just be done with the video get the video out there and start working from there but the prosecution was sending a clear message this is why we’re here you see what happened and we’re here to show you why we believe that this is murder Enrique Derek Chauvin’s defense lawyers drew attention to George Floyd’s size and appearance here’s what they said today you will see that three minneapolis police officers could not overcome the strength of mr Floyd mr Chauvin stands five foot nine one hundred and forty pounds mr Floyd is six three weighs pounds enrique George Floyd was down on the ground handcuffed not resisting and then unresponsive for a long period of time and we saw that video in its entirety today what is the defense trying to accomplish by mentioning Floyd’s size and appearance here today well in the opening statement they were very clear to point out that this was the officer’s training this is their defense their defense is this is the officer’s training and this was something that took place fast and quick and a lot of fast decisions need to be made at that time they were painting mr Floyd to be you know he was dangerous and out of control and he was somebody that was under the influence and you know the officer in this case he’s you know he’s shorter he’s smaller smaller in stature and this is the training that he was given and this training is what he was supposed to do by subduing the suspect in this case and this is all part of their strategy then there’s the question of the actual cause of death we expect to hear conflicting testimony right from medical experts on both sides about exactly how George Floyd died how much does a jury value that kind of expert testimony do you think and they also have to try to make sense of it how do they do that well you know when you have a case like this you know these experts are going to come in they’re going to say two different things the cause and why they’re here today and this whole trial is about why he died the defense is saying he died because he was under the influence of drugs and different things and that’s why he died of course the prosecution is saying he’s died because of the officer’s actions and restraining his breathing and asphyxiation and that’s why he died so these experts are going to come in they’re going to say different things ultimately the jury’s going to have to look at these experts grade their credibility their expertise to see how they believe these individual experts and most likely juries tend to take the expert that most likely goes with what they want to believe and goes along with what they’re leaning towards so this is going to be experts and it’ll be thumbed down in a way so the jury understands but ultimately i think whatever way the jury is moving through they will go towards whatever expert goes along with what their position is [Music] nbc legal expert enrique l one latoysin this is just day one the trial expected to last two to four weeks thank you for joining us we know we’ll see you more see you soon