“Murder and involuntary manslaughter arising from criminal negligence are two different things,” said Missouri Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs in handing Kansas City police officer Eric Devalkenaere a six-year prison sentence.
“They are different legal concepts. They are different things. Eric Devalkenaere is not Derek Chauvin who murdered George Floyd.”
As it turns out Derek Chauvin is not the Derek Chauvin who murdered George Floyd for the simple reason that George Floyd wasn’t murdered.
Thanks to the release of depositions in an ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit, we now know that the case against Chauvin was rigged to satisfy the lynch mobs howling for his head.
In her bid to get justice for herself, Amy Sweasy, a former Hennepin County prosecutor, unwittingly revealed just how willing Minnesota prosecutors were to deny justice to Chauvin and his three colleagues.
As recorded in her deposition, Sweasy spoke with Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker the day after Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020.
“I called Dr. Baker early that morning to tell him about the case and to ask him if he would perform the autopsy on Mr. Floyd,” Sweasy testified.
“He called me later in the day on that Tuesday and he told me that there were no medical findings that showed any injury to the vital structures of Mr. Floyd’s neck. There were no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation,” said Sweasy.
By May 26, Baker knew full well the consequences of exonerating Chauvin. Sweasy continued, “He said to me, ‘Amy, what happens when the actual evidence doesn’t match up with the public narrative that everyone’s already decided on?’ And then he said, ‘This is the kind of case that ends careers.'”
Baker was eventually coerced into adding “neck compression” as a cause of Floyd’s death. The story of why he changed his assessment is long and ugly, but Judge Youngs was likely unaware of it when he convicted Devalkenaere in a bench trial just months after Chauvin’s trial in Minneapolis.
In comparing Devalkenaere to Chauvin, Youngs established a new legal category, one reserved for white cops who kill black perps.
On this perverse sliding scale of justice, if Chauvin deserved 22 years in prison for somehow murdering “black man” George Floyd with his knee, Devalkenaere deserved six for killing “black man” Cameron Lamb with his service pistol.
Although Youngs would never say so, the disparity had less to do with forensics than with optics. No one recorded the Lamb shooting. In Kansas City, unlike Minneapolis, violence did not transcend the threat stage.
As I noted in this column last week, Devalkenaere was imprisoned after a Missouri Appeals Court upheld his conviction. So dubious was the evidence against Devalkenaere that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote a convincing appeal to have the verdict overturned.
Even more convincing is the appeal made by Devalkenaere’s father, Albert, a retired KCPD master detective. He writes:
His mother and I are proud of the man Eric has grown into. He is an amazing father to his children, and a loving husband. Eric has a strong moral compass, and ethically he is beyond reproach.
Eric followed his fellow officer into the backyard after Lamb was observed committing multiple dangerous traffic violations. These violations were observed by Eric and other officers both on the ground and from the air.
Several of these violations were recorded by the police helicopter. It is my opinion that there was enough reasonable suspicion for them to legally enter the yard to make contact with Lamb and probable cause to arrest Lamb for the traffic violations if they chose to do so.
Then why was Eric charged and ultimately convicted?
Could it be the prosecution was influenced by the fact that a member of Cameron Lamb’s family worked in the prosecutor’s office?
Could it be that the prosecutor was involved in a very public feud with the then chief of police?
Could it be that someone wanted to gain notoriety for prosecuting a white police officer in the death of black man?
During the trial the prosecution team spent a great deal of time trying to convince everyone that the gun and other evidence was planted in the garage and on Cameron Lamb’s body, but never identified who did this.
Several of the tactical officers reported and testified they saw the gun found on the basement floor near the drivers door of the truck Lamb found in from outside the garage door opening.
These officers testified Lamb was found with his left arm hanging outside the truck with the weapon on the basement floor directly below his hand. Oh, by the way, Lamb’s DNA was found in and on this weapon.
The prosecution made a big show of putting the department’s pursuit policy on display and repeatedly accused Eric and other officers of violating that policy with[out] providing any witness that was able substantiate this claim.
In fact a nationally know and respected expert in police matters testified Eric did not violate the policy and was justified in his actions.
Now the question is why would Lamb draw a gun as the police were approaching him?
Could the fact that Lamb was under the influence at least two narcotics have influenced his actions?
Could the fact that he had narcotics on his person have influenced his actions?
Could the fact that he had just committed (unbeknownst to the officers) an act of domestic violence have influenced his actions?
Could the fact that the gun in his possession was stolen have influenced his actions?
Could the fact that the truck he was driving was stolen have influenced his actions?
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Eric shot and killed Cameron Lamb because he believed Cameron Lamb was about to shoot at another police officer, and he was justified in doing so both legally and morally.
It is highly unlike that Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will pardon Chauvin or his colleagues, but there is still hope in Republican Missouri.
Concludes Albert Devalkenaere, “Please call or write Governor Parson’s office at 573-751-3222, or https://governor.mo.gov/contact-us/mo-governor and ask him to intervene and pardon Eric.”
Jack Cashill’s new book, “Untenable: The True Story of White Ethnic Flight from America’s Cities,” is now available in all formats.
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