I think this is going to get cross-examined into oblivion

It's a snapshot, you can't see where Chauvin's other knee is, and it looks like he's leaning a little bit to one side (which is enough to take a LOT of the weight off of the other side
Also this is an area where the prosecution expert doesn't really have expertise

What in his training gives him the ability to analyze a photo and figure out how weight was distributed?
This was also the moment where I realized how ideological the expert was

He was on solid ground talking about how the knee in the back and the handcuffs being pushed into the mans back could constrain his breathing

But this is just spitballing, and Nelson will catch it
Direct is over, and we'll have cross-examination of Tobin after the lunch break starting at 2:30 est

Tobin was a very strong witness for the prosecution, but I'm underwhelmed by two major aspects of his testimony
First, as discussed, he testified beyond his expertise when he tried to calculate the amount of force that Chauvin placed on Floyd's neck

Second - his attempt to rule out fentanyl as the cause of Floyd's ultimate respiratory failure was not persuasive
His first argument was that Floyd was breathing faster than one would expect from someone suffering from Fentanyl overdose

That seems suspect - just intuitively, respiratory rate seems like a number of factors influence it

Anxious people breathe faster, don't they?
Second was this math calculation that suggests all the CO2 in Floyd's blood corresponded to the length of time he went without breathing

But his math seemed a little sloppy to me (35+49 = 89?)
Another big problem is the mismatch between what the prosecutors have argued was excessive force (knee to neck) and what Tobin identified as responsible for much of the constraint on Floyd's breathing (having his chest pinned to the pavement)
Still - a very effective witness, FINALLY gave some answers to the questions that have been lingering in jury's minds ("how did Floyd die? what about the fentanyl?") and will require an excellent cross from Nelson

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Will Chamberlain

Will Chamberlain Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @willchamberlain

10 Apr
David French wrote a whole column whining about Justice Thomas' brilliant Big Tech opinion

But I want to focus in on this passage right here

Simply put - he's defined "free speech" so broadly that it would eviscerate civil rights law Image
If social media moderation decisions are free speech - EVEN in the face of laws like section 230 that explicitly say the platform is not the speaker - then any act of exclusion is free speech

Meaning that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is unconstitutional on free speech grounds
When French says that the companies are merely "creat[ing] communities that reflect their own private visions of what a marketplace of ideas should look like"

He should think about how that would apply to Jim Crow restauranteurs and hotel owners
Read 6 tweets
9 Apr
"ceaseless assemblage of negotiations and compromises."

Is it like Thesaurus day or something? This is incredibly awkward usage
For the English nerds:

"ceaseless" connotes something happening over time

"assemblage" has nothing to do with time

Better word choice would be "ceaseless procession"
Even better word choice would be "endless negotiations and compromises."

Omit needless words
Read 5 tweets
9 Apr
Hi @davidfolkenflik!

Are you going to apologize for this bs hit piece on @EmmaJoNYC, suggesting her massive scoop on Hunter Biden's laptop was disinformation?

Because you certainly owe her one

npr.org/2020/10/17/924…
Other people who owe @EmmaJoNYC an apology:

Katie Robertson of the New York Times

nytimes.com/2020/10/18/bus…
And @petersterne at New York Magazine:

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Read 4 tweets
8 Apr
Today is a crucial day in the Derek Chauvin Trial

Prosecutors just called their first medical expert witness: Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist working at Loyola University Medical Center

Expect him to testify that George Floyd did not die of an overdose

#ChauvinTrial
Tobin testifies that the combination of one of the officers pushing Floyd's handcuffs into his back, combined with Chauvin's knee on Floyd's *back*, made it so Floyd couldn't breathe out of his left lung

#ChauvinTrial
I don't necessarily think this is great testimony for the prosecution: they've spent almost the entire time saying that it was Chauvin's knee on Floyd's *neck* that was excessive force
Read 7 tweets
7 Apr
Wow

Chauvin's lawyer just played a short excerpt of George Floyd - while being held on the ground - screaming out "Ahhh! I ate too many drugs!"

This trial shouldn't be happening
You don't understand the defense at all

Drug use isn't the justification

It undermines *causation*

Chauvin didn't cause Floyd's death, an overdose did

Read 4 tweets
31 Mar
Watching the Chauvin trial, and they are showing the police bodycam footage

I'd never watched it before

After watching it, I don't know how you could rule out the idea that Floyd just simply died of an overdose
From the moment police approached Floyd in his car, he was freaking out, looking like he was having a panic attack

He was resisting arrest (even if he wasn't trying to) - constantly jerking around, refusing to get in the squad car, etc.
While he's in the squad car - without anyone constraining his chest or neck - you can hear him saying "I can't breathe"

And he just looked like he was in a world of pain from the moment he was handcuffed
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!