LogFAQs > #952460224

Sahuagin posted...

the whole point is that you can kneel on someone's neck, and they can die, and their death can have had nothing to do with the kneeling;

That would, however, be very unlikely, presuming the death occurred soon after the kneeling. To that end, unless it can be proven that the death had nothing to do with the kneeling (proof whose burden lies on those attempting to make such a claim), I would consider it reasonable to convict the kneeler of murder. They got the outcome they attempted to get, regardless of how direcso it only seems fair to give them the consequence

There's ample precedent for exonerating people who committed assault and whose victim died, provided death was not a reasonably predictable outcome of the assault. Punching a hemophiliac, for example, may cause fatal internal bleeding, but the person who punched them typically won't be held responsible for their death unless it can be proven that they knew better. This is not such a case, though. Kneeling on somebody's neck can kill pretty much anyone. Everyone knows about the risk of asphyxiation. Most people would also recognize the risk of cervical factures. Anyone with medical training (who would be involved in advising police protocol) would know that applying enough pressure to the carotid sinus can stop the heart. It can be very comfortably presumed that Chauvin knew better (or, if he didn't, his superiors should be on the hook for failing to ensure that the officers they're hiring have an IQ above room temperature). Without clear proof to the contrary, there's no reason to even suspect that kneeling on Floyd's neck didn't play a major role in his death.

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