Good morning, readers, and welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the Derek Chauvin trial. The case against Chauvin continues this morning at 9 a.m. CT in Minneapolis, as the trial enters its ninth day of testimony.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis Police Department police officer, is facing charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd during an arrest in May last year.
Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the neck of Floyd, who is black, for more than nine minutes during the fatal encounter. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
So far, the trial has broken down on various core themes. Prosecutors conducted extensive questioning of witnesses, including Chauvin’s former colleagues and police chief, about the proper use of force.
They try to establish that Chauvin’s behavior violated departmental guidelines and was a conspicuously excessive use of force, which resulted in Floyd’s death.
Through cross-examination of witnesses, Chauvin’s defense sought to dismantle concrete concepts about the use of force, effectively arguing that excessive force can be appropriate and reasonable in a number in one situation.
Remember: his lawyer, Eric Nelson, basically claims by interrogation that the crowd that formed around Floyd’s arrest could pose a threat to Chauvin and his colleagues at the scene, which would move the criterion for fitness.
Chauvin’s defense is also trying to argue that Floyd’s drug use led to his death – not the knee to his neck, as he screamed for help and eventually stopped breathing.
Here are some key points from Wednesday’s proceedings:
- Ao Jody Stiger, who called prosecutors as expert witnesses to the use of force, said Chauvin’s use of force “was not objectively reasonable. ”
- Stiger, through whom the defense tried to say that a crowd could pose a risk, stood his ground and said: ‘As time went on in the video, you could clearly see the owner of Floyd … his health was deteriorating. His breath was getting lower. His tone of voice became lower and lower. His movements began to stop. As an officer at the scene, you are therefore responsible for realizing that ‘OK, something is not right’. Something has changed drastically than what happened before, so you are responsible for taking some action. ”
- Both the Mercedes SUV Floyd was at the scene before his arrest, as well as the police car, was subjected to a second forensic investigation. While pills were recorded in photographs in these vehicles during the first forensic investigation on May 27, they were only recorded in December 2020 and early 2021 or subjected to chemical analysis. Nelson insisted on pointing out that investigators make significant mistakes because they missed it, creating more general doubts about the investigation.
- The evidence showed that the two pills contained methamphetamine and fentanyl.
- Susan Neith, a Pennsylvania forensic chemist who also analyzed the pills, said methamphetamine levels found that some of the samples were low, between 1.9% and 2.9%. Neith said she regularly encounters methamphetamine pills in the street that contain from 90% to 100% methamphetamine. Thus, evidence pointing to the relatively low levels of methamphetamine could undermine Nelson’s argument about drug overdose.
It’s right now. Come check back soon for the reports and analysis.