All this in 24 hours

Here in central Kentucky we awoke to a bit of snow from the night before.  Always a bit of a shock to be wearing shorts one day, and have snow on the ground the next.

 

Yesterday’s news of the guilty verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was in some ways unsurprising, yet in other ways downright shocking.  So seldom does a verdict come out the way that the known facts would indicate it should, given what a racially charged situation this was and still is.  Experts had said repeatedly that the length of jury deliberations would be a direct indication of whether Chauvin would be found guilty or acquitted.

Amid the rejoicing by so many people of so many backgrounds, it was hard not to consider the fact that the legal system allows for appeals of convictions, so this is far from over, in my view.  As it stands now, Chauvin will be incarcerated for eight weeks until his sentencing hearing, and it’s likely a given that his legal team will start the appeal process on as many grounds as can be identified.

 

I did not follow this trial in detail, but what I saw, read and heard was a very meticulously organized and presented case by the prosecution.  Their presentation included Chauvin’s superiors decrying his actions as unwarranted, as well as a host of experts who identified the specific cause of the death of George Floyd.  Worth noting that the defense primarily tried to build reasonable doubt by pointing out the likelihood that Mr. Floyd had underlying medical conditions that contributed to if not actually caused his death.

There will be more to come on this, and more to say.

 

In the midst of all of this, there was another mass shooting event, this time on Long Island outside of New York City.  The suspect was apprehended a few hours after several people were shot.  This news was pretty far down the list of stories covered on one network’s nightly newscast.  Just another day, I guess.

And now for something completely different…..

 

If you’re scoring at home, you know that the Cincinnati Reds were playing a game in Cincinnati against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The game was tied in the ninth and a hard, cold rain was falling, with one of the Reds’ ace relief pitchers on the mound.  As the rain intensified and included either hail or sleet, this pitcher proceeded to hit a batter and then walk a run in, largely because he was working with a wet baseball.  After the walk, he asked the umpire for a new ball, which was also wet, and the two repeated this cycle several times.  

 

Finally, the Reds’ manager came onto the field to appeal to the umpires to suspend the game before anyone was injured.  They’ll resume later today.