To contact the producer on this story: Adam Allington in Washington at aallington@bloombergindustry.com, To reach the executive producer responsible for this podcast, contact: Josh Block at jblock@bloombergindustry.com. TED SAMPSELL-JONES: I’ve never seen any other States that has anything remotely to the same extent of Minnesota. Spark of Life arose out of a 1985 criminal case involving a man who allegedly killed a cop. Once again, the odds of that working are, low, they are things will be things that will be appealed. They’re called “victim impact statements.” But to hear this kind of testimony during the evidence phase. So, there’s no question that they will appeal things like the trial should have been moved to another city. And the fact that, you know, George Floyd’s brother, will talk a little bit about him growing up and what a kind person he was. A unique “spark of life” doctrine in Minnesota allows prosecutors to introduce evidence about George Floyd’s life in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the … I’m about 2 hours behind, so the case is further along than I am. Jurors will have to decide. The court ruled that prosecutors can present evidence that a murder victim was “not just bones and sinews covered with flesh, but was imbued with the spark of life. When Rodney King was the victim of, the famous incident of police brutality in Los Angeles, seeing that video over and over again, desensitized the public and often the jury pool. Log in to access all of your BLAW products. In "The Law of Life" by American writer and journalist Jack London, the main character old Koskoosh dies, or is about to die, by a pack of wolves who are … They are not fully edited for grammar or spelling. Similarly, George Floyd has become a hashtag, he’s become a rallying cry. ADAM ALLINGTON: One the one hand this sounds like a noble intent, right? Spark of Life A new way to detect healthy egg cells. “What the spark of life is bringing in, is painting a picture of perhaps Chauvin was indifferent to the problems to the health and the life and safety of George Floyd,” Schultz said. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest. So yes, it’s controversial. So why is it allowed? As the Chauvin case illustrates, the law itself may block an evenhanded depiction of a victim's life. At the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Defense argued that it was prejudicial to the jury to allow the Prosecutor to give a speech about the officer’s childhood, his family and his marriage. And that’s why it’s been controversial. But Friedberg doubted that would happen, saying Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill would halt testimony if it goes too far. So, I’d say that’s kind of the top thing, but that’s uncertain. Prosecutors trying a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd’s death put Floyd’s girlfriend on the witness stand in an effort to humanize him for the jury. ADAM ALLINGTON: So, it does sound like there is some amount of risk here as well. Attorneys for both sides will bring expert witnesses to provide competing testimony about what killed Floyd. Doesn’t that risk prejudicing a jury? Prosecutors say he knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, pinning the handcuffed man to the ground. If the prosecution tries to humanize Floyd in a way that would open the door for the defense to challenge those statements. So of course that kind of thing kind of come up, but Minnesota really allows this evidence in for the purpose of kind of humanizing and making the jury more sympathetic to the victim, which is not something that other states allow. TED SAMPSELL-JONES: It’s been around in Minnesota for a few decades, it was kind of an invention in the mid-1980’s by the Minnesota Supreme Court. ADAM ALLINGTON: With me here to shed some light on the Spark of Life Doctrine, is Ted Sampsell-Jones, a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system. By: CW Martin Posted on April 2, 2021. Now of course, sometimes it comes up in background, you know, you’ll be asking a witness, you know, how do you know the victim? Um, I don’t think it would be their top issue, but it’d be maybe one of their top five. ADAM ALLINGTON: Since you bring it up, if you were on the defense team in this case, what issues do you think present the strongest case for appeal? Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. So, I would say that’s almost certain to be one of their top couple of issues for appeal. And the odds of that succeeding on appeal are near zero, but that doesn’t mean they won’t give it a shot. So what judge Cahill said is don’t make that point. The Call of the Wild Chapter II The Law of Club and Fang, page 2 The Call of the Wild quizzes about important details and events in every section of the book. And the witness might say, well, we went to high school together and played football together or something. Tyler also reasoned that the defense was bound to highlight Floyd's drug addiction at some point anyway, so by using “spark of life” prosecutors can address it head-on while showing "who he was as an individual.”. "The 'spark of life' doctrine is controversial because it violates the foundational principle of relevance in evidence law," said Ted Sampsell-Jones, a law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. TED SAMPSELL-JONES: Yeah, I think there’s a good chance that it will be one of his claims on appeal. Open in app; Sign up. “We’re learning that Floyd is not a perfect person, as none of us are,” said David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota. U.S. News & World Report - Reuters • 35d. The young woman was found with a bullet wound to her shoulder, but police … TED SAMPSELL-JONES: Yes, exactly. That really doesn’t shed any light on either of those two disputes. And it’s okay to discuss, they use this phrase “spark of life,” when referring to the victim. Law of Attraction is the practice of manifesting your dreams and goals by means of visualization. Professor, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of attorneys, even ones who practice criminal hadn’t heard of this Spark of Life Doctrine before the Chauvin trial, so what is it? She said they “tried really hard to break that addiction many times.”. Prosecutors used a legal doctrine called “spark of life” to call Courteney Ross to testify about Floyd's life, and are expected to call a Floyd family member to the witness stand later. J ury selection in the Derek Chauvin murder trial resumed Wednesday morning, but not before the prosecution and defense attorneys debated a … It’s why the state public defenders here have been fighting this doctrine ever since it came into existence. Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter. ADAM ALLINGTON: Are there any states that have something similar to the spark of life doctrine, as far as you know? Find AP’s full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. 1 Sign up for our latest news and updates! Some legal experts have said if prosecutors go too far to invoke undue sympathy, Chauvin's defense could have grounds for an appeal. And that might be unduly prejudicial to the defendant in some cases. © 2021 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. © 2021 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Derek Chauvin Trial: What You Need to Know (Podcast), Third-Degree Murder Count Added to George Floyd’s Accused Killer, George Floyd’s Death Looms in Background of SCOTUS Search Case, Chauvin Murder Trial Judge Seen as ‘Fair’ in Past Cases (Podcast), All Eyes On Minnesota As Police Reforms Go Into Effect (Podcast). MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors trying a white former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd's death plan to use a legal doctrine called “spark of life” to humanize Floyd in front of jurors. By Katherine Kornei Dec 19, 2016 12:00 AM. By Jonathan Allen and Joseph Ax MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Before resting their case in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek … Over the course of more than two weeks, the jury heard … Landscape version of the Flipboard logo. And it was just one of those things where there was just a random case where the prosecutor kind of choked up when talking about the victim in the course of giving opening or closing arguments, and the defendant appealed that and said it was inappropriate and Minnesota Supreme Court said that was okay. The first is literally Evidence 101. Learn more about a Bloomberg Law subscription. So it’s kind of like when you make one point, the other side gets an opportunity to rebut that point. The prosecutor in this case reportedly plans to … All of those things are aimed at showing that this was a biased jury. I mean, think of there’s really two elements that are at issue in this case. So it’s really not relevant in the relevant, in the usual sense. It’s just all the questions about pretrial, publicity and jury placement. “It is damning to the defense,” Ramsay said. ADAM ALLINGTON: So, if I understand your main critique here is that spark of life doesn’t speak to the central question…that is, whether or not Derek Chauvin committed a crime? That’s because whether George Floyd was a good brother, or liked to play basketball, or made snacks for his siblings, doesn’t have any bearing on whether Derek Chauvin committed a crime. It’s a doctrine with roots in a 1985 state Supreme Court case, and one that several legal experts said makes Minnesota a rarity in explicitly permitting such testimony ahead of a verdict. But, in the ordinary case it’s something that really, you know, it works against all kinds of defendants, whether you’re kind of sympathetic with the defendants or not. Sign Up For potential parents struggling with fertility, bright eggs might be good eggs. And if Chauvin is convicted of second-degree murder that wouldn’t make any difference. And so they need to have a bunch of issues for appeal once they lose kind of the process as an appeals lawyer is to say, you know, to say “what are my three or four or five best issues for appeal?”. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. But the family wants the jury to know that he was a person, that his life had value, that family members relied on him. And the second is, was his use of force reasonable, or put differently, whether he was intending to hurt him as opposed to just using reasonable force. The trial should have been delayed. And so it kind of conflicts with the character evidence rule as well. But thanks to an obscure legal doctrine, the jury was also allowed to hear testimony aimed at humanizing George Floyd. The 26-year-old had told relatives she feared for her life after she refused to marry either of the pair, and had called on an uncle to intercede. 'Spark of Life': Jury to Hear From George Floyd's Brother in Quirk of Minnesota Law. The desire to humanize a person, but I guess that depends on your point of view. One is, did Derek Chauvin caused George Floyd’s death. In today’s episode, Ted Sampsell-Jones, a law professor at Minnesota’s Mitchell Hamline School of Law, discusses the “spark of life” doctrine with Bloomberg Law’s Adam Allington. The trial should have been delayed based on the publicity. In the 1985 case from which the doctrine and its memorable name are derived, a defendant convicted of killing a police officer said the prosecution unfairly prejudiced the jury against him by introducing evidence about the officer’s life and family. They are trying to portray Floyd's complicated life, from his childhood in Houston’s Third Ward, where he came to be seen as a mentor, to his struggle with drug addiction in Minneapolis. You can talk about his smile, but do not go down the road of talking about violence or other topics that might allow the defense to respond with contrary evidence. Bloomberg Law - The prosecution wrapped up it’s case in the Derek Chauvin murder on Monday, April 12. LEE MERRITT: Very often in these cases, historically we begin to dehumanize the victims. Judge Cahill addressed specifically what kind of testimony he would and wouldn’t allow back in March. The idea of Spark of Life testimony is it gives the prosecution a chance to tell a little bit about the victim, sort of life and background from a very personal perspective in ways that has nothing to do with the charged incident in question. So if you, the prosecution say he’s generally a nonviolent character, then I have to allow the defense to say, well, wait a bit about what about his criminal conviction for home invasion? The prosecution has some leeway to show that spark and present the victim as a human being as long as it is not an attempt to invoke any undue sympathy or inflame the jury’s passions.”, Ross told jurors that she and Floyd were both drug addicts stemming from their struggles with chronic pain. The Minnesota Supreme Court, the state's top court, ruled that such evidence is allowed as long as it does not invoke undue sympathy or inflame the … TED SAMPSELL-JONES: Exactly right. The Minnesota Supreme Court, the state’s top court, ruled that such evidence is allowed as long as it does not invoke undue sympathy or inflame the … “It was the defense’s best day in terms of testimony,” said F. Clayton Tyler, a prominent local defense attorney. ADAM ALLINGTON: But there are some limits on Spark of Life testimony, right? To the second issue, I would say. In this case (Chauvin), a lot of people are kind of happy that the prosecution is able to do this move. EXPLAINER: How Floyd’s ‘spark of life’ played out at trial – Galveston County Daily News. We got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction, many times. And yeah, they might decide that the admission of spark of life evidence is one of their issues for appeal. In the 1985 case from which the doctrine and its memorable name are derived, a defendant convicted of killing a police officer said the prosecution unfairly prejudiced the jury against him by introducing evidence about the officer's life and family. The prosecution wrapped up it’s case in the Derek Chauvin murder on Monday, April 12. And then the Supreme court decides in Noor’s favor that other case, then that’s going to give Chauvin an absolute killer issue for appeal and would mean he would get all the way down to manslaughter, which would really be a good result for the defense. All these things about, you know, the Minneapolis City Council press conference, the riots last night. Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Floyd family, told ABC News that spark of life testimony is a way to remind jurors of the personal impacts on a someone who was treated so unfortunately by the system. When Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson cross-examined Ross, he questioned her on Floyd's drug use, driving hard for her to talk about how Floyd was hospitalized in March 2020 and how she had speculated that it was because he had used heroin. And of course, spark of life doesn’t do that because it doesn’t shed any light on whether, for example, Chauvin caused Floyd’s death, or whether he used unreasonable force. They’re probably going to lose and if they lose they’re certainly going to appeal. But the “spark of life” doctrine, which is rare outside Minnesota, is controversial among defense attorneys and could complicate the trial. They are trying to portray Floyd's complicated life, from his childhood in Houston’s Third Ward, where he came to be seen as a mentor, to his struggle with drug addiction in Minneapolis. To hear this kind of testimony during the evidentiary phase of a trial is unusual. EXPLAINER: How Floyd’s ‘spark of life’ played out at trial Galveston County Daily News. Two hours behind and Chauvin is now charged with third degree murder, and the ex post facto clause. COURTENEY ROSS: We both suffered from chronic pain. Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed from Madison, Wisconsin. Law & Crime Network published this video item, entitled “The Derek Chauvin Trial ‘Spark of Life'” – below is their description. “The fact that he overdosed, I thought that was huge.”. Ted Sampsell-Jones, a law professor at Minnesota’s Mitchell Hamline School of Law discusses the doctrine on [Un]Common Law. The prosecutor became so emotional the trial court had to take a recess. ADAM ALLINGTON: Despite being somewhat controversial, others saw there are important legal reasons for spark of life testimony. Transcripts of our episodes are made available as soon as possible. The most serious charge — second-degree murder — against the former officer carries up to 40 years in prison. Don’t say that Floyd is generally nonviolent. And that’s kind of going to be probably the central thing that defense is disputing. But the “spark of life” doctrine, which is rare outside Minnesota, is controversial among defense attorneys and could complicate the trial. So then they would appeal it to me. In most criminal cases, victims' family members and loved ones typically provide the "spark of life" during sentencing, after the trial. So you can’t like make that point without giving the defense an opportunity to respond. And then it just kind of from there blossomed into this doctrine, that allows much more than that as well. Law News. "The 'spark of life' doctrine is controversial because it violates the foundational principle of relevance in evidence law," said Mitchell Hamline School of … You can talk about his life a little bit. MINNEAPOLIS -- Prosecutors trying a white former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd’s death put Floyd's girlfriend on the witness stand Thursday in an effort to humanize him for the jury, but her testimony also gave the defense an opportunity to delve into Floyd's drug use. (Credit: Don W. Fawcett/Science Source) Newsletter. TED SAMPSELL-JONES: There’s always this concept and evidence law of “opening the door.” And that means when one party does something, they open the door to additional evidence from the other side. “It’s an excellent tactic for the state to try to get jurors to feel sorry for a person because he’s an addict, but in this case, being an addict means he’s violating the law,” said Joe Friedberg, a defense attorney. And you know, this case is unusual because all of our political sympathies are kind of flipped here. That shows that he’s not a nonviolent character. JUDGE PETER CAHILL: I’m not allowing a lot of the paths that would amount to “character evidence.” And I’m specifically concerned here about, and it may be true, you know, the fact that Mr. Floyd was described as a “gentle giant.” As soon as you start getting into propensity for violence or propensity for peacefulness, I think then we’re getting into character evidence and then that does open the door for the defense to cross examine about his character for peacefulness. It’s not something that is really consistent, frankly, with the Minnesota rules of evidence. “It is damning to the defense,” Ramsay said. Part of what Chauvin’s attorney are trying to do now is set up issues for appeal. And, to be clear, it’s not supposed to. And it’s the same kind of legal issue about the meaning of third-degree murder is present in the Noor case, which is still pending in the Minnesota Supreme court and also in Chauvin. Here's how legal experts see that playing out: The doctrine emerged in 1985 when a defendant accused of killing a police officer argued to the Minnesota Supreme Court that the prosecutor prejudiced the jury with a speech about the officer’s childhood, his parents and his marriage. The doctrine emerged in 1985 when a defendant accused of killing a police officer argued to the Minnesota Supreme Court that the prosecutor prejudiced the jury with a speech about the officer’s childhood, his parents and his marriage. However, the law graduate from Middlesex University who had moved from the UK around two months ago, was then found dead at her apartment in the eastern city of Lahore. Probably again, more important to this family than any other aspect of the case. So, if in some crazy world Chauvin was not convicted of second-degree murder, but then was convicted of third-degree murder. ADAM ALLINGTON: Now, it is not entirely unheard of to hear these kinds of personal or emotional testimony from the loved ones of a victim, after jury has rendered a decision, during sentencing. 'Spark of life': Jury to hear from George Floyd's brother in quirk of Minnesota law 'Spark of life' testimony is part of a limited type of evidence allowed in criminal trials in Minnesota meant to show that a crime victim was not a faceless person but was "imbued with the spark of life," as the Minnesota Supreme Court put it in a 1985 ruling. Chuck Ramsay, a Minneapolis defense attorney who has seen “spark of life” evidence used against his clients, called the doctrine unfair. I mean, Chauvin’s attorney raised that again this morning about the shooting and the publicity and the riots last night. Legal experts expect Floyd's cause of death to be key at trial. The “spark of life” legal doctrine allowed jurors to hear testimony meant to humanize George Floyd during the Derek Chauvin trial for murder. Chuck Ramsay, a Minneapolis defense attorney who has seen “spark of life” evidence used against his clients, called the doctrine unfair. Over the course of more than two weeks, the jury heard extensive testimony about George Floyd’s health problems and struggles with drug addiction. what is the “spark of life” doctrine? 'Spark of life': Jury to hear from George Floyd's brother in quirk of Minnesota law 'Spark of life' testimony is part of a limited type of evidence allowed in criminal trials in Minnesota meant to show that a crime victim was not a faceless person but was "imbued with the spark of life," as the Minnesota Supreme Court put it in a 1985 ruling. TED SAMPSELL-JONES: Yeah, it makes sense that people haven’t heard of it because Minnesota is atypical and probably even unique in this regard. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. And relevance means shedding some light on an element of the offense. [Chauvin’s case talks a lot about “spark of life.” The following case although not applicable to Chauvin, discusses the “exigency rule” in regard to emergency aid and the warrant exception. It’s controversial, and that violates, I think two foundational principles of evidence law. Set aside Derek Chauvin and think of an ordinary case, this is something that prosecutors use in a lot of cases. Flagging viable sperm is easier than spotting healthy eggs. You can talk about how much you loved him. ADAM ALLINGTON: Earlier in the trial we also heard spark of life testimony from Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, who talked about how she and Floyd met, as well as their shared addiction to opioids. 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