I’m sorry, but right now, I just keep wanting to cry. You all know that I have been following the Derek Chauvin murder trial on MSNBC, basically being homebound. But the testimony of Dr. Martin Tobin literally reduced me to tears. Because he definitively laid the cause of death, and laid to waste the defenses case. It turns out that, sadly, it was all a waste.
I have long held a largely negative view of Chauvin’s lawyer,
Eric Nelson. In fact I consider him a barely functional idiot. Nelson has married himself to the premise that white cops always get off for killing unarmed black men, as long as they portray the unarmed black as this almost superhuman force of nature, capable of killing the officer even when he’s running away, and any bystanders as a violent black mob.
Nelson’s cross examination has been largely nonsensical, and devoted to finding one thing that will lead one juror to decide to side with the defense. Everything he throws up there is shit like, well, hypothetically, or under certain circumstances. His go to pitch so far has been that, while surrounded by three other armed officers, a bunch of bystanders filming the incident, and screaming for Chauvin to get up off of Floyd and let him fucking breathe! was so menacing that it distracted him from taking proper care of his prisoner. Note that one of the ravenous mob was a 9 years old. Nelson also has tried to argue and infer that it was the drugs in Floyd’s system that caused a heart attack, and his death.
But today, Dr. Martin Tobin, a globally recognized expert pulmonologist, didn’t just gill in the grave of the defenses case, he drove a stake through the heart of the vampire first.
Because as Dr. Tobin testified today, none of the other bullshit mattered! He testified that the small amount of drugs in Floyd’s system didn’t contribute to his death. He testified that Floyd smoked, and the nicotine in his system didn’t matter. He testified that whatever underlying heart condition, or other physical ailments Floyd may have had didn’t natter. The only thing that mattered was that George Floyd couldn’t fucking breathe!
While he was at it, Dr. Tobin laid waste to the defenses feeble argument as to whether Chauvin’s knee was on Floyds neck, or his shoulder. Because it wasn’t either of those two things that killed George Floyd. What killed George Floyd was the 90 lbs. of body weight that Derek Chauvin put on George Floyd’s neck and back, making it literally impossible for him to draw a breath!
That’s the whole ballgame right there. And Dr. Tobin even left the county medical examiner with a Mack truck size hole to drive through with his testimony. The medical examiner finds no evidence of a low oxygen incident in Floyd’s death. Yet Tobin directly testified that a low oxygen cause of death would not leave a fingerprint in an autopsy. Like a cardiac arrhythmia, this would be a temporal event that left no trace in autopsy. So, even if the medical examiner holds to his story, Dr. Tobin has already supplied a completely reasonable reason for the discrepancy. The medical examiner can’t find what he can’t see.
Which just makes me keep wanting to cry. Because it’s just all such a total waste. This was never about a counterfeit $20 bill, and it was never about George Floyd’s drug use, or the lack thereof. It was always about Derek Chauvin’s big, swinging dick. It was about proving dominance over a larger, unarmed black man, and once he established that, he wasn’t giving it up. No matter what. I’ll keep watching the trial, mostly to watch Chauvin’s attorney make a horses ass out of himself, but for me, the trial is already over. Case closed.
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
“This was never about . . .” No, it wasn’t. People of color have always known it was about power, raw power, in so many instances. If that isn’t a definition of racism, I don’t know what is. A sad case that never had to happen, but thinking back to Florida (Trayvon), St Louis, and so many others, none of them had to happen, but they did. The trial is hard to watch; thanks for the updates.
You’ve nailed it. As I’ve said many times, power is the most dangerous and severest addiction in human history, and nothing will ever replace it. Yes it’s racism. And sexism. And ageism. And…
AGREED. I want to tell them to just stop the whole thing right now as there no question about guilt.
The part I think is really interesting will be the effect it has on white America. I certainly hope and pray that all of this is waking people up. Of course, in the duration of the trial it is heart-wrenching and I am on pins and needles for the result.
As always, Mr Murphy, you make excellent points, particularly concerning Chauvin’s lawyer’s philosophy of white immunity in the murder of blacks. It’s that same philosophy which allowed Chauvin to calmly commit murder, in plain view, on camera. Same with his fellow police perpetrators. This is just the most blatant example of what black and other minority citizens have long suffered, and to which the larger white society has long turned a hypocritically blind eye.
I feel your emotion over this. Over the years we’re just accumulating this growing pile of race-motivated police murders. It’s depressing and appalling.
I find myself always returning to the murder of Darrien Hunt. He was just a happy go lucky nerd out walking to an event dressed up like an anime character, and because he had a fake sword the police stopped him and shot him in the back six times.
Why? How can there be any justification of that murder? This was a low-crime area, where a suburban male was just trying to walk to a comic book event. He posed no threat. There was no reason for the police to resort to violence. Darrien Hunt should be alive today…he should be writing online posts griping about being in lockdown with his smelly brothers, and eagerly awaiting the American release of Kimetsu no Yaiba. He should be stressed about bills, and falling in love, and struggling to understand his vegan cousin. But he’s not, and there has been no justice for his death.
This has to change. The carnage has to stop. Putting Chauvin in prison is a start, but it is just a first step on a very long road.
This makes me sick! Praying people will wake up to the gross abuse happening in the country! I want to throw up now!?
In the BIG PICTURE? This trial is America on trial……………..If the cop walks? Be prepared to watch America BURN! And rightfully so! There is no doubt if that cop is guilty or not, he is! 99% of them are! His jackass lawyer is a joke, he must have thought that his “white privilege” alone would get him off. With any luck? Those days are OVER NOW? To watch the chief of police & all the other cops roll over on him was beautiful the “thin blue line” has been broken and hopefully forever! Tobin alone hung that cop and did so brilliantly, if there are any jurors who do not vote to convict? The destruction that will follow will be on them! The State could not have done a better job proving beyond any doubt that the cop is guilty! This trial will forever change what happens to bad ass cops! And it might cost America hell if it goes wrong!
What really got me was the defense atty. having the gall to claim Mr. Floyd uttering “I can’t Breathe” 28 times along with “Help Me” “Let Me Go” and “Mama” was the same as resisting arrest and somehow justified his actions. Those words meant exactly what those words say: Mr. Floyd was dying and he wanted his murderer to stop.
All lives don’t matter until black lives matter.
I agree with all your thoughts, but please don’t call it the George Floyd trial, he is the victiml. It is the Derek Chauvin trial.
I too watch this everyday, I think it’s just a travesty . Mr. Floyd was murdered right in front of everyone . Chauvin looked like he was enjoying every minute of it , it made me sick . He needs to spend the rest of his life in prison .
My first thought was why didn’t the other police officers tell Chauvin to get off him ? They did nothing to stop him , which makes them an accessory to this murder , Yes, they were fired but they too should be charged .
And 2 of them have been charged!