Lex-Man wrote:Prototype wrote:Yeah I get that, but there’s nothing unintentional about that.
Murder is murder. In Scotland you establish the intention to kill someone and combine that with establishing that their actions resulted in the death of that same person.
If he decided to just do it in the moment, it may not be pre-meditated with any length of time, but he still decided to kill and for me that’s intentional.
I kind of agree with this although I think there are some circumstances where murder isn't premeditated, the classic is coming home and finding your wife in bed with another woman and flying into a rage.
The problem is court cases seem to be based too much around the mind of the individual at the time the crime took place, which is unknowable.
I think in some ways the degree charges for murder are good, but it really just creates a legal industry for endless appeals. I absolutely agree that he should get second degree murder, it seems the most appropriate charge. It obviously wasn't pre-meditated, but there is certainly evidence to suggest at the time Floyd was put on the floor, the intent was to choke the life out of him. I'm not sure how it could be viewed otherwise. I don't know a reasonable human being that would think holding someone down for that length of time wouldn't cause significant harm.
I'm guessing in the UK, we would only have the choice to try for murder or manslaughter. And then probably end up with a misconduct in public office conviction.