I totally agree with your assessment that there will be appeals to this case. The judge not moving the trial to a different venue and not sequestering the jury at the beginning of the trial were both things that will be questioned. I also expect the defendant to get another lawyer at some point and for that lawyer to push for appeal due to an “inadequate defense” provided by his previous lawyers. I was surprised that Chauvin’s defense lawyers did not have a more “robust” defense with more medical experts, and police officers who may have defended the former officer’s techniques, mental state, or those who may have had a different take to the medical evidence at the trial. The trial was going so badly for the defendant that I thought they might put him on the stand, but that would have been very risky (but in hindsight it might have been his only shot to sway a juror or 2 for a mistrial).
But even with the overwhelming evidence provided and the convincing testimony against Chauvin, most of my Black family and friends were not convinced that justice would be served. And some of my most cynical family and friends still believe that a “technicality” or a lenient sentence is coming. It is amazing to me to see how differently the world is viewed (@skieurope, the stereotypes in the skit definitely have some truth in it), but I have been most thankful for those friends and acquaintances who do not look like me, but have spent time trying to understand why I do not have the same faith in systems that may give them some comfort.
I am curious of the thoughts of others who commented back in June 2020 about their assessment of case and what happens next (sentencing of Chauvin, and the legal issues still faced by the remaining former officers). I predict that Chauvin will be sentenced to 30-40 years and will serve half of that time in prison (in isolation). I don’t expect the other officers involved to receive jail time, but we will see.