Freud trial begins
This week, the Freud case, which has attracted much attention, officially opened.
In May last year, Freud, an African American man, was crushed to death by the white policeman Xiao Wan. The incident triggered the largest anti-racism movement in the history of the United States. Subsequently, this wave spread to the world.
The Boston Globe sighed:
"Xiao Wan will not be the only defendant in the court, and the entire United States will be sent to the trial."
On March 12, the Minneapolis City Council of the United States passed a civil settlement agreement worth 27 million U.S. dollars with 13 votes in favor and 0 votes against.
But at this moment, people are more concerned about the criminal trial in the Freud case.
On March 8, local time, the "Floyd case" was officially opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the crime occurred.
This is the
first time
in
Minnesota's history that cameras have been allowed to film a complete criminal trial
.
Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill used the term "unique" to describe the case.
Hill said that the reason for doing so is to take into account the high degree of concern to the case by the American society and even the world.
In response to the recurrence of the riots, Hennepin County, where the court is located, spent nearly one million U.S. dollars to erect a three-meter-high explosion-proof wall and barbed wire around the court a few weeks ago. More than 2,000 National Guard soldiers and 1,000 More than state police officers have also been fully deployed to cooperate with the local police in maintaining law and order during the trial.
Reporter: The
city of Minneapolis has become a "war zone" with such iron fences, wire fences, and roads blocked everywhere.
Regarding such strict security, on the 7th, Minneapolis City Council chairman and Democrat Lisa Bender expressed concern.
Bender said that although the Freud case has occurred for nearly 10 months, the relationship between the local law enforcement agency and the protesters is still very tense.
The involvement of a large number of military police will make law enforcement agencies and protesters more hostile.
American people:
If (Xiao Wan) is found guilty in the final verdict, these separation walls will not be erected at all, and there will only be celebration activities. They are prepared for people's dissatisfaction.
Currently, the police officer involved Xiao Wan faces charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
If any of these crimes are convicted, Chau Wan will become the first policeman in Minnesota’s history to be sentenced for killing blacks during law enforcement.
According to the Associated Press, the final jury will consist of 12 jurors and two alternate jurors.
The biggest difficulty at present is that due to the extremely high exposure rate of the Freud case, it is even more difficult to find the so-called idealized "neutral" juror.
According to ABC reports, in order to find the so-called "fair" jury members, each jury candidate must complete a 16-page written questionnaire to "prove his innocence."
ABC legal commentator Haston: The
video has been circulated all over the world. In this questionnaire, all the questions are straight to the point:
"Have you seen the video of Freud being crushed to death on his knees"
"Have you discussed the incident with your family, friends or colleagues"
"Have you participated in online discussions"
"Have you or anyone around you participated in a march against police violence in Minneapolis?"
"If you participated, did you hold up the sign?"
"What slogan is written on the sign"
Such a questionnaire sounds like an effort to find "unbiased" jury members, but this is not the case.
According to the jury selection rules in the United States, the prosecution and defense will select jury members from a group of qualified candidates.
In this process, both the prosecution and the defense have the right to directly veto the candidates selected by the other party (peremptory challenges).
In this case, in accordance with the principle of protecting the rights of the defendant in felony cases, the defense lawyer was given 15 opportunities to eliminate the opponent's candidate without reason, while the prosecution lawyer only had 9 opportunities.
A study
by
Tufts University (TUFTS) in the United States shows that
juries composed of all-white juries tend to be more harsh on African-American defendants
.
Another survey initiated by Chicago's DePaul University College of Law showed that if there are multiple jurors of African descent in the jury, the probability of the defendant being sentenced to death will be greatly reduced.
In the Simpson case, called the "Trial of the Century" by the legal scholars, 9 of the 12 jury members were African Americans, and Simpson was eventually acquitted.
Freud's family lawyer Krump:
This is a simple truth taught in law schools. If you choose the right jury, the facts are not important at all.
Freud’s family lawyer, Krupp, told NBC that Xiao Wan’s team of lawyers is doing their best to form a jury that is as “white” as possible.
Freud case
March 9
Xiao Wan's defense attorney Nielsen used the first peremptory challenge to remove a Mexican mother with three children from the jury list.
In the following three days, Nelson again eliminated three Californian males of Hispanic descent.
March 11
Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill, who heard the case, decided to restore Xiao Wan’s third-degree murder charge.
The Associated Press analysis believes that this move will increase the odds of conviction.
As of March 12
The court has elected 7 jury members, 5 of whom are white males.
Earlier
Xiao Wan’s lawyer once proposed that the third-degree murder charge should not be applied to the charges against his client, but it was eventually rejected.
In the current charges of “second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter” facing Xiao Wan, the maximum sentences are 40 years, 25 years, and 10 years respectively.
For the second-degree murder charge, it is difficult for the prosecutor to prove Xiao Wan's guilt.
The prosecution must prove that Xiao Wan’s behavior was the “significant causal factor” that led to Freud’s death, and that Xiao Wan’s behavior met the characteristics of a serious crime; and the autopsy report showed that there were opioids in Freud’s body. Drugs-fentanyl and methamphetamine are one of the important reasons that eventually caused his heart attack.
For the third-degree murder charge, the prosecutor only needs to prove that Xiao Wan’s actions caused Freud’s death and that his actions were reckless and reckless.
The analysis believes that even if Xiao Wan is eventually convicted of third-degree murder, Xiao Wan's sentence is likely to not exceed 12 years because he has no criminal record.
In the court proceedings, the case will be held on March 29 at the earliest, and it will officially enter the trial stage.
The Associated Press believes that the verdict of the case is expected to be released in mid-to-late April at the earliest.
Associated Press reporter Forrity: The
first key question is whether the death of Freud was caused by Xiao Wan?
The prosecution does not need to prove that Xiao Wan was the sole cause of Freud's death, but only needs to prove that his (Xiao Wan) kneeling pressure had an important causal link to Freud's death.
Another key question is whether Xiao Wan’s behavior is reasonable. As a law enforcement officer, he can use force according to law, but whether the use of such force is reasonable will be determined by the jury.
For this "historical trial," American University professor Sherri Williams, who has long been engaged in police violent enforcement behavior research, pointed out that American society is watching this trial with unprecedented attention. However, , The case is still unfolded under the old legal provisions and judicial system.
To prevent tragedies from happening, the reform of the US law enforcement system cannot be delayed.
On March 3, U.S. local time, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act" (George Floyd Justice in Policing Act) with a small advantage.
The core content of the bill is:
prohibiting police from using lock-throat actions during law enforcement, prohibiting discriminatory law enforcement based on race or religion, abolishing police's restricted immunity, and establishing a national networked database to record police misconduct.
Among them, the most controversial one is about "abolishing the police's'qualified immunity' (qualified immunity)."
Democrats believe that the existence of "limited immunity" is like granting police the right to "fire first and think later," while Republicans believe that the bill is a threat to the police's personal safety.
The US "Capitol Hill" noted that in the vote, the only Republican, GOP Rep. Lance Gooden from Texas, voted in favor of the bill.
Just as some media began to praise Gooden’s partisan spirit, Gooden clarified on social media, saying that he was “slipping his hands” while voting and pressing the wrong voting button.
Gooden reiterated, "I will never support the'anti-police' bill proposed by the radical Democrats."
The Guardian believes that the Freud Police Law Enforcement Justice Act is the most powerful bill in the history of the United States to reform the police system, but
even if it
is passed
in the House of Representatives, it is difficult to win more than 60 votes in the Senate. .
According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2015 to February 2021, the rate of people of African descent being shot by police was more than twice that of whites.
In addition, according to statistics from the ABC, about one-third of African-American men have been detained or imprisoned, and this ratio is only one in seventeen of the white population.
Mrs. Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" published in 1854 was one of the fuse of the American Civil War.
The "Fleeing Slave Hunting Squad" established by the U.S. Congress in 1850, specifically responsible for arresting black slaves, is regarded as the predecessor of the U.S. police force.
Garry Potter, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University School of Law, pointed out:
"The barbaric character of the early American police department did not end with the development of history."
In the 1990s, in order to deal with drug lords, the Pentagon launched the "Project 1033" under the National Defense Authorization Act to transfer excess military equipment to the police system.
After 9/11 in 2001, the war on terrorism started.
In addition to the Ministry of National Defense, the newly established
Department of Homeland Security also distributes up to 500 million U.S. dollars to the police system each year for the procurement of military equipment, rapidly accelerating the pace of militarization of the police.
Armored vehicles, tear gas, flashing thunder and other militarized equipment used on dangerous criminals have begun to be used in daily police enforcement operations.
In a small town with a population of less than 300 people in Colorado, the police even dispatched a "mine-proof and anti-ambush armored vehicle" in response to a robbery.
According to statistics from CNN
, 93% of the protests that occurred in 2020 were peaceful, but many whites only saw 7% of violent activities, thus completely denying the "anti-racism movement" itself.
According to a survey jointly launched by USA Today and the market research company Ipsos, when asked about Freud's death this month, 64% of African Americans thought it was a murder.
In the eyes of white respondents, only 28% thought it was a murder, but in June last year, this number was as high as 55%.
Correspondingly, the latest poll by the Pew Research Center in the United States shows that the satisfaction of African Americans with the police is less than half that of whites.
Approximately 75% of white respondents believed that the police used appropriate law enforcement methods in the law enforcement process, while only about 33% of African Americans held the same view.
In 1919, when a 17-year-old Chicago boy Eugene Williams was swimming in Lake Michigan, he accidentally crossed the segregation line in the middle of the lake and was stoned to death on the spot by many white people at the scene.
After the police arrived at the scene, they determined that Williams' behavior was "worthy of the crime."
The incident triggered serious conflicts between the police and African Americans in the local area, resulting in 38 deaths and more than 500 injuries.
After the incident, Illinois Governor FRANK LOWDEN announced the formation of the "Blue Ribbon Committee", which became the first institution in the United States to conduct an independent investigation of the police's systemic racial discrimination.
In the end, the commission's findings were that the police force did have problems with racial discrimination, but it did not make any reforms.
Former US President Trump:
Occasionally, bad incidents happen, just like the recent incident (Floyd incident). I personally think that 99.99% of the police are good people. Let’s put it this way, 99% of the police are very good. People.
Harvard University History Professor Mohamed: The
so-called "good guys" in the (police) system have fundamentally discriminated and violently treated too many people in law enforcement work.
In July 1967, the Detroit police arrested more than ten people of African descent for no reason, causing conflicts between the African descent group and the police. The incident resulted in 40 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
In March 1991, Rodney King, an African-American youth, was interrogated by four white police officers while driving and was severely injured by the police.
A year later, 4 policemen were acquitted.
In May of that year, the largest riot in the 20th century broke out in Los Angeles. The riots spread to 19 states in the United States within 24 hours.
In February 2012, an African-American teenager Martin in Florida was shot and killed by Zimmerman, a community police officer. In July of the following year, after Zimmerman was acquitted, protests and riots broke out across the United States.
In August 2014, an African-American teenager Mike Brown in Missouri was shot and killed by a white police officer Wilson from behind.
The incident immediately triggered protests and riots in more than 100 cities in the United States.
Protesters do not believe there will be a fair trial after the trial of the "Floyd case" is postponed
The Wall Street Journal noted that in 2020, the poverty rate of African Americans is still as high as 21%, which is three times the poverty rate of whites.
People of African descent are more dependent on government relief. About 40% of people of African descent can apply for government relief due to poverty.
This ratio is higher than other ethnic groups.
Among the deaths from new coronary pneumonia in the United States, African descent accounted for 22.4%, which was significantly higher than the 12.5% proportion of African descent in the total U.S. population.
Protester Jemiya:
I hope to convict the police involved, and I hope that my ethnic group and any minorities will no longer be indiscriminately killed by the police.
The African American columnist Charles M. Blow of The New York Times pointedly pointed out that when the Freud case first occurred, the United States showed unprecedented enthusiasm and unity, and the anti-racism movement flourished.
Unfortunately, now, in less than a year, the attitudes of African Americans and whites on the Freud case and racial issues have become apparently opposed.
Regardless of the final outcome of the Freud case
Are difficult to bridge the deep rift in American society