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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Francis1867 (talk | contribs) at 10:34, 5 May 2021 (→‎Criticism). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Presumptive sentencing in lead

Should we include the presumptive sentence of 12.5 years in the lead? We would only need to do this until the sentencing hearing is concluded in 8–9 weeks, and the information is currently included in the body of the article. Virtually every RS appears to report on the 40 year maximum, and then very soon thereafter on the 12.5 year presumptive sentence. This is helpful, I think, to avoid creating the false impression of the likely penalty/range of penalties in this case, which seems important enough information for the lead too. Here is the sentence that I had originally added to the lead: ([1]).

Minnesota sentencing guidelines suggest a presumptive sentence of 12.5 years, discounting aggravating factors.

Alternatively, we could do a slim version of this (something like "the presumptive sentence under Minnesota law is much lower"), or just state that the sentencing hearing will begin in 8 weeks. — Goszei (talk) 07:13, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Comment. An evaluation of the "headline stories" and what they have to say. Many organizations later released smaller "sentencing analysis" articles. AP News only mentions 40 years. NYTimes mentions the 12.5 years. The Guardian mentions a shorter sentence. WaPo mentions 11 to 12 years. WSJ mentions 11 to 15 years. Reuters mentions the 12.5 years. BBC only mentions 40 years. CNN mentions 12.5 years. ABC mentions 12.5 years and speculates on 15. — Goszei (talk) 07:33, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I'd leave it out of the lead, which should keep to simple facts not subject to dispute. Sentencing possbilities can be explained in the body.—Bagumba (talk) 09:32, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Per Bagumba, we really shouldn't put speculation in the lede. The lede is meant to be stable and summarise content. So add it to the body narrative and then we can refer to it in the lede as / when sentencing takes place. Koncorde (talk) 09:53, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, leave it out of the lede. Anywikiuser (talk) 10:31, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It`s spelled LEAD...leave it in...he will be out in 10-20 if that 2600:1702:2340:9470:E0AC:CD44:4802:427 (talk) 20:15, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Should this be placed? If so, where?

External videos
video icon Pioneer Press Live Stream of Derek Chauvin trial on YouTube (1 hr 44 min 58 s)


It is from a known news organization and may be useful. aeschyIus (talk) 16:20, 21 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Are you sure you have the right link? I see downtime. If that's the point, it works here and only here. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:02, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
At the endm it shows. aeschyIus (talk) 20:16, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, OK, I see. Shows a masked man barely reacting to the verdict. Even if you'd trimmed the 99% of filler, I don't think it'd add much beyond "The defendant's eyes darted about". InedibleHulk (talk) 23:05, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 22 April 2021

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. There is consensus to move to Trial of Derek Chauvin per WP:COMMONNAME. (closed by non-admin page mover)Lord Bolingbroke (talk) 21:20, 29 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]


State v. ChauvinTrial of Derek Chauvin – Per WP:COMMONNAME, "State v. Chauvin" only has around 100 hits while "Trial of Derek Chauvin" has ~1,000,000. Similar examples include Trial of George Zimmerman, Trial of Michael Jackson and Trial of Susan B. Anthony. Note: The last RM was closed with the suggestion that a new RM can be opened with a new alternative name. #Proposed name changes (above) suggests this title has support, so this formal RM is opened to minimize having to duplicate arguments. —Bagumba (talk) 08:09, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support For my reasons stated in #Proposed name changes. Phillip Samuel (talk) 08:24, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Same InedibleHulk (talk) 09:02, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strongest possible oppose as this article is about the criminal case, not the trial. The case includes investigation, pretrial motion practice, the trial itself, posttrial motion practice, sentencing, and direct appeals. MOS:LAW governs here. This is an article about a case, not about a trial. The fact that a number of other articles we have are wrongly named is of no moment; WP:WAX. I implore those rushing to jump on this terrible name choice because they're being wowed by someone's claim of more WP:GHITS to actually make a policy-based argument. Just because this is a high-profile case does not require it to have different handling from other articles about legal cases. 69.174.144.79 (talk) 11:45, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
    • Point of order as well, Bagumba is misrepresenting the search engine results given above. The first, purportedly showing the number of Google News search hits for "Trial of Derek Chauvin" only returns 114 results, and not the one million-plus results falsely claimed. Assuming good faith, Bagumba has simply failed to perform a search engine test properly. This is clearly not a WP:COMMONNAME situation. But even if it were, the test is not what news sources—which use sensational, often incorrect terminology to refer to things—but what the common name is. 69.174.144.79 (talk) 11:48, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
      I see 1.9M when I click the link he provided which is a google news search for "Trial of Derek Chauvin" with quotes. Same search with quote for a general search I see 7.6M. WikiVirusC(talk) 12:13, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
      You see a claimed estimate of each large round number, the actual numbers of results for each query are around a hundred (including mere duplicates). InedibleHulk (talk) 23:22, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
      It's rather ironic that you make accusations of my "misrepresenting" while claiming AGF. Regarding searching news sources, WP:COMMONNAME states: When using Google, generally a search of Google Books and News Archive should be defaulted to before a web search. Cheers. —Bagumba (talk) 13:36, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support for reasons given on previous two discussion, such as WP:COMMONNAME. WikiVirusC(talk) 12:13, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support the common name in media reports. Few sources are using the technical legal name of the trial. (t · c) buidhe 12:28, 22 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Keith Ellison as prosecutor

Isn't Keith Ellison supposed to be special prosecutor? The infobox doesn't have him listed. Phillip Samuel (talk) 15:24, 23 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I could tell, he wasn't actually prosecuting the case during the day-to-day coverage. Edge3 (talk) 23:57, 24 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
By all accounts, state Attorney General Ellison was the lead prosecutor, [2] which is also stated in the prose. Is it standard to only list those public facing in the infobox? No mention in the documentation.—Bagumba (talk) 03:15, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Skrelk commented on this above, so they might know something about it. I assume it shouldn't be, but I don't really know either. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 15:05, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Its unclear to what extent Keith Ellison is prosecuting the case. Its routine for the elected prosecutor to be an attorney of record, even if they aren't actually prosecuting the case. I dont know Wikipedia usually includes those as prosecutors or not, but it wouldn't make a ton of sense. I'm inclined to think that Ellison was just an attorney of record by virtue of being the AG, since looking at the publicly available pleadings, it doesn't look like he signed any. It would be surprising if he played an active role, since as a politician, he probably doesn't have much recent litigation experience Skrelk (talk) 16:38, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

He didn't participate in any of the in court roles but there have been coverage of his role in prosecuting the case. [3] While Mr. Ellison did not speak in court, he was there most days on the prosecution side of the room, .... He was deeply involved in just about every aspect of the case, from preparing witnesses to weighing in on jury selection, said Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general during the Obama administration who was part of the prosecution team. WikiVirusC(talk) 19:12, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
He is also the one that gave the press conference speech following the verdict with the other attorneys all giving a shorter commentary. I'd add his name if I could figure out how to do it, but I can't... Gandydancer (talk) 08:56, 26 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I added his name in wikilink with "(lead)" on the side. Should it be (special) or (lead)? Phillip Samuel (talk) 17:25, 26 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I think lead as I'm not sure what special might mean. Gandydancer (talk) 18:48, 26 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
They could be thinking of a special prosecutor, now known as a Special counsel. -- Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 18:37, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I doubt it. In my understanding that is quite different.Gandydancer (talk) 21:19, 3 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Just because you understand does not mean other people do. The North Carolina Government recently asked for a special prosecutor to look at a black man being shot by a police officer [4]. -- Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 18:14, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Gandydancer is right though. There's no situation in which the attorney general would be the special prosecutor. Firefangledfeathers (talk) 18:27, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

OK, here's the facts. Matthew Frank is the lead prosecutor and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office is prosecuting the case.[5] I'd fix it myself but it is so complex that all I see is a huge jumble. Gandydancer (talk) 02:45, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Where should this be placed?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/03/chauvin-trial-juror/

https://www.startribune.com/chauvin-juror-defends-participation-in-march-on-washington-after-social-media-post-surfaces/600053102/?refresh=true

I think these two articles about the Juror Brandon Mitchell wearing a black T Shirt with the words "Get your knee off our necks" and a BLM cap should not be mentioned in the article until its get brought up in the court case not to confuse people. Since this has raised questions about the jurors impartiality that can be brought up on appeal but hasn't raised any action yet ( such as Judge Peter Cahill questioning the juror) right now it seems more like speculation than fact. Jonvah (talk) 17:56, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's fine to add expert speculation about potential grounds for an appeal (e.g. that juror, Maxine Waters' comments with an unsequestered jury, whatever else). We don't speculate ourselves, we're not a crystal ball, but we can certainly include expert commentary on it. E.g. Jury consultant Alan Tuerkheimer said it is likely that Chauvin’s defense attorney Eric J. Nelson will use this information to push for an appeal but argued that the photo itself would not be enough to dismiss the conviction from the first link and The matter is likely to be cited by Nelson as one of many bases for an appeal, said a law professor and defense attorney from the second seems fine to include. Regarding where? I don't know. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 20:08, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

To add to article

Basic information to add to this article: how much this trial cost. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 21:56, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

How much did it cost? Find a source for total amount if possible. I've read articles about security cost but not about overall general costs. Probably going to still be more cost added before we have a final total, from at least sentencing date, and possibly appeals if they aren't counted separately. WikiVirusC(talk) 22:32, 4 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Derrick Chauvin's attorney filed a motion for a new trial so lets see how that plays out first.
https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/05/04/993665655/derek-chauvin-files-for-new-trial-in-george-floyd-murder-case Jonvah (talk) 00:06, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
A lot of the prosecution attorneys are working on this case pro bono, and the ones employed by the state are salaried, so you're probably not going to get an actual amount for this trial. Edge3 (talk) 02:37, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Criticism

We should detail the criticism of the trial by the accused's attorney. Specifically, the potential jury intimidation, and the perjury and bias of one of the jurors. This will be a major point when a new trial will be granted, and has already saw a wave of reporting.Francis1867 (talk) 07:08, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I agree however we should stick to what is written in the appeal or any other motions. This is to have a good source to cite these criticism and stop the article from being seen as opinionated. Such as in the motion for a new trial the attorney doesn't mention the specific juror's photo just juror misconduct. For example when you imply that a new trial will 100% be grant I agree with you but that is just opinion not fact. Jonvah (talk) 07:20, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I agree however we should stick to what is written in the appeal or any other motions: No, we reflect with WP:DUE weight what reliable, secondary sources say. The actual appeal is a primary source.—Bagumba (talk) 09:19, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
THen we can wait until the wave of new reporting when the second trial starts.Slatersteven (talk) 08:56, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]
There is already discussion in the media, a lot of reliable sources have exposed that at least one juror lied to get on the jury and to secure a conviction on all charges. Court documents are primary sources when you try to prove their content, but are secondary sources when you use them to prove the fact alleged. The secondary source rule is often abused to ensure that MSM outlet bias are reproduced here. Francis1867 (talk) 10:34, 5 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]