The jury instructions have been released in printed format:
https://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/High-Profile-Cases/27-CR-20-12646/JuryInstructions04192021.pdfI'm going to just hone in on murder2 and try to present it in the most concise way possible. It has two relevant components, A and B.
A: The Defendant caused the death of FloydQuote
'Caused the death' means that the Defendant’s acts were a substantial causal factor in causing the death of Floyd. The Defendant is criminally liable for all the consequences of his actions that occur in the ordinary and natural course of events, including those consequences brought about by one or more intervening causes, if such intervening causes were the natural result of the Defendant's acts. The fact that other causes contribute to the death does not relieve the Defendant of criminal liability. However, the Defendant is not criminally liable if a “superseding cause” caused the death. A “superseding cause” is a cause that comes after the Defendant's acts, alters the natural sequence of events, and is the sole cause of a result that would not otherwise have occurred
+++ My key takeaway: I don't see any room for 'superseding cause' to enter the discussion. There's no cause that came
after Chauvin's kneeling since the kneeling continued through the 9:29, after any other causes would have manifested themselves. A superseding cause can only come after, which means that the discussion would only be focused on the issue of intervening causes. As for intervening causes, those have to be a result of the defendant's acts. Can any of the other contributors be said to be a result of Chauvin's actions? The drugs and pre-existing conditions no, but what about the extra stress on the heart that Dr. Baker honed in on? Was that an intervening cause that resulted from Chuavin's actions? Chauvin did handcuff him and put him on the ground.
B: The Defendant, at the time of causing the death of Floyd, was committing the felony offense of 3rd Degree Assault.-- 3rd Degree Assault has two relevant components:
----(1)Assault is the intentional infliction of
bodily harm upon another or the attempt to inflict
bodily harm upon another. The intentional infliction of
bodily harm requires proof that the Defendant intentionally applied unlawful force to another person without that person’s consent and that this act resulted in
bodily harm.
----(2)Defendant inflicted
substantial bodily harm on Floyd. It is not necessary for the State to prove that the Defendant intended to inflict
substantial bodily harm, or knew that his actions would inflict
substantial bodily harm, only that the Defendant intended to commit the assault and that Floyd sustained
substantial bodily harm as a result of the assault.
Quote
bodily harm and substantial bodily harm are keywords and must be defined for clarity:
Bodily harm means physical pain or injury,illness,or any impairment of a person's physical condition.
Substantial bodily harm means bodily harm that involves a temporary but substantial disfigurement, that causes a temporary but substantial loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or that causes a fracture of any bodily member
+++ My key takeaway: There are 3 tiers of bodily harm (normal, substantial, great). The 3rd tier (great) is the one that causes a high probability of death. However, this high tier is not required to be guilty of 3rd Degree Assault. Chauvin only needs to have committed Tier2 and intended to commit Tier1. So the simplest questions we can ask are:
"Did Chauvin intend to cause Floyd pain?" and
"Did Chauvin cause substantial, temporary impairment of any organ?". If you answer yes to both those questions, then Chauvin committed 3rd Degree Assault.
This post was edited by Kayeto on Apr 20 2021 01:51am