Hey folks,
YOU CAN ALWAYS COME DIRECTLY TO THIS POST HERE (BOOKMARK!): lawofselfdefense.com/floyd
This post will service as a collection point for my various posts on the George Floyd case, in order to have a single location where people can find those collected works. I’ll plan to update it each time I produce new substantive content on the case. Content will be listed here in reverse chronological order.
It is our intent to leave this content outside our usual members-only firewall for some time, given the public interest in this case. Our normally scheduled self-defense law blog posts, videos, and podcasts will remain members-only, on our usual lock-down schedule.
Interested in becoming a member? Membership is only about 33 cents a day for world-class self-defense law expertise, insight, legal analysis and other content to make YOU hard to convict!
And RIGHT NOW you can get a TWO-WEEK TRIAL MEMBERSHIP for ONLY 99 CENTS!
Learn more by clicking here: http://lawofselfdefense.com/trial
George Floyd Files
Chauvin Trial: Meet the Jurors
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 12: Final Juror Selected
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 11: 14th Juror Selected, One More Needed
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 10: Thirteenth Juror Seated, One More Needed
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 10: Motions: No Delay in Trial, No Change of Venue
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 9: Judge Scolds Prosecution, Seats Jurors 11 & 12
Chauvin Pre-Trial Day 9: 10th Juror Seated
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 8: Two Jurors Seated, Defense Burns Peremptory
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 8: Two Seated Jurors Excused for Cause Over Settlement Bias
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 7: Defense Burns Two More Strikes, Asks Court to Presume Bias of Jurors
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 7: Motion Over Floyd’s Year-Prior Drug Ingestion
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 6: Defense Argues Settlement Prejudice
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 6: Ninth Juror Seated: Three Profess Cannot be Fair & Impartial, Excused
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 5: Seventh Juror Seated: State & Defense Each Burn a Peremptory
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 4: Defense Burns Two More Peremptory Strikes
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 4: Sixth Juror Seated, and 3rd Degree Murder Reinstated
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 3: Two More Jurors Selected, Totaling Five
Chauvin Pre-trial Day 2: First Three Jurors Selected
Chauvin Trial Day 1: Will Floyd’s Prior Arrest-Related Drug Ingestion Be Admitted As Evidence?
Chauvin Trial Day 1: Prosecution Throws Wrench in Jury Selection Process
Preview: Coverage of the Derek Chauvin Trial in death of George Floyd
Media Slowly Sensing Perhaps Floyd’s Death Maybe Not A Murder? (March 3, 2021)
George Floyd: Criminal Complaints & Medical Examiner Report (June 5, 2020)
News/Q&A (George Floyd): June 4, 2020
Did Baden Autopsy Find Clinical Evidence Floyd Killed by Asphyxia? No (June 1, 2020)
NEWS: Officer Chauvin Charged with Murder of George Floyd (May 29, 2020)
After Action Analysis (George Floyd): May 27, 2020
Remember:
You carry a gun so you’re hard to kill.
Know the law so you’re hard to convict.
Stay safe!
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Thanks for putting this all together! Now more than ever I feel like its so important that the actual facts be out there as much as possible.. so that cooler heads may begin to prevail! Stay safe!
This is kind of off topic, but all this rioting got me to wondering about self-defense in the context of a riot. I’m not talking about folks who deliberately go to the trouble spots out of misguided curiosity or a desire to make trouble, but folks who find themselves in the middle of it, where the riot came to their neighborhood, home, or place of business. I notice that a lot of small business owners just stayed away. Probably wise if you subscribe to the philosophy that stuff can be replaced, but life and limb cannot. But if a business owner happened to be at their place of business when a riot broke out, what defensive options would that person have to protect himself or herself, and perhaps the business as well, within the bounds of self-defense law under various scenarios?
No sooner do I post my question above, I see Andrew is going to do a session on self-defense issues re: riots, looters, and arsonists. Read my mind.
I see Rudy Giuliani and Trey Gowdy are calling for charges to be upgraded to first degree murder. It is clear to us that have taken LOSD 1 & 2 that murder 1 requires premeditation and intent. I am disappointed two former prosecutors publicly demanding this. They have to know this case doesn’t warrant a murder in the 1st charge. Any thoughts on why would they say something like this?
Well, they’re both politicians, these days, not prosecutors. These are political, not legal, statements on their part.
From a political perspective, the only upside is to argue for figuratively hanging Chauvin from a public light post, so that’s what they are doing.
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Both the State Coroner and the privately hired coroner said George was murdered, i.e., classified as homicide, not natural death!. This case is going to be interesting to follow.
“Homicide” ≠ “Murder”. Homicide merely means the death was caused by another person.
Lawful shootings in self-defense that result in death are “homicides” but not murders.
Patients killed by medical errors are “homicides” but not murders.
Suicides are “homicides” but not murders.
“Homicide” does not mean unlawful.
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
The murder statutes in Minnesota, if I am reading them correctly, seem unusual in having 3 levels of murder. 1st degree murder in Minnesota looks to me like what I have heard referred to as murder with special circumstances, since the statute lists specific situations where regular murder with specific intent would be 1st degree murder. I did not see anything in the list of special circumstances that would apply to the Floyd case. The Minnesota 2nd degree and 3rd degree murder statutes look more like what would be called 1st and 2nd degree murder in other states.
Numerous “legal experts” have opined that there is no set time period for premeditation and intent and that they can be formed in an instant. I always thought that the idea of First Degree Murder was to separate out the person who plotted, planned, and took an action in furtherance such as buying a gun or poison. In the midst of a fight, one might have the thought, “I’m going to kill him.” But, to me, that doesn’t meet the requirement for planning in advance but would be some lesser charge.