Quote:
Originally Posted by Martian
"I also take issue with the term "murdered". Murder is a very specific term. In order to convict Officer Chauvin of murder, it would have to be proven that he intentionally killed Floyd and did it with premeditation. He would have had to have gone out that day with the idea that he was going to find George Floyd and kill him. "
Well, almost - the word murder does mean "premeditated killing". On the other hand legal murder does not require premeditation - more often called homicide. There are many forms of legal "murder", premeditated is just one of those forms. A murder can take place on the spur of the moment in an emotional context.
Murder (United States law - Wikipedia)
First-degree murder
Any intentional murder that is willful and premeditated with malice aforethought.
Felony murder
A charge that may be filed against a defendant who is involved in a dangerous crime where a death results from the crime, is typically first-degree.
Second-degree murder
Any intentional murder with malice aforethought, but is not premeditated or planned in advance.
Voluntary manslaughter
Sometimes called a crime of passion murder, is any intentional killing that involves no prior intent to kill, and which was committed under such circumstances that would "cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed". Both this and second-degree murder are committed on the spot under a spur-of-the-moment choice, but the two differ in the magnitude of the circumstances surrounding the crime.
Involuntary manslaughter
A killing that stems from a lack of intention to cause death but involving an intentional or negligent act leading to death. A drunk driving-related death is typically involuntary manslaughter (see also vehicular homicide, causing death by dangerous driving, gross negligence manslaughter and causing death by criminal negligence for international equivalents). Note that the "unintentional" element here refers to the lack of intent to bring about death.
At the very least, barring more evidence to the contrary, the officer was guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
It seems we have evolved into a very judgmental society - every single thing that happens must be neatly forced into our own vision of reality.
#sad.
"Can't we all just get along"... |
Police get special training to handle all kinds of situations. People look to them for safety, protection and skill. People also expect police to be honest, trustworthy, understanding and in control. Do people understand that police are human too. Absolutely, however, people still expect police to possess the ability to know when a situation turns bad and expect the police to mitigate it not aggravate it. In this situation, none of the police did their job and a man died. Instead of trying to defend their actions, they should be upset about the result and admit they were wrong. Unfortunately, it seems, these particular officers could care less that a man died for no reason other than complete loss of control and human consideration. Very un-police like.