I haven't been able to see much of the Chauvin trial but what I have read
makes the following very clear.
1) the amount of evidence is nearly unicorn level. Not only do we have a video of the entire incident, we have an EMT who just happened to be there on her day off, an MMA fighter who also happened to witness the event, plus two other compelling witnesses. Most cases are lucky to have one witness who is just an average Joe or Jane.
2) The experts are off the charts (and would be prohibitively expensive for most cases). One of the most renown lung experts, a heart transplant surgeon, two medical examiners, and a law professor. I know some testified for free (one of the medical examiners was an employee and the lung guy volunteered) but in a normal case this would run to at least the mid five figures if not six figures.
In short, this case is essentially a unicorn, and let's be honest, there is a non trivial chance there won't be a conviction. I do think acquittal is off the table, but a hung jury might well happen. That doesn't speak well to normal cases. Cases that don't become national issues. I hope for and do think a conviction is still quite likely. But the fact that one can't be about as close to certain of one as it is possible to be, is both sad and scary.
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