Derek Chauvin’s lawyers found a ‘speedball’ pill containing George Floyd’s DNA in the ex – policeman’s Minneapolis truck – months after police seized and searched, the evidence was revealed in Chauvin’s murder trial on Wednesday.
Minnesota forensic scientists said the pill contained traces of fentanyl and methamphetamine when tested at the request of Chauvin’s defense team, who found it during a new search in the group in January.
The car has been sealed since police first searched it on May 27 – two days after Floyd’s death – and photographed the objects inside, but did not test.
“I had no information back then that I would be looking for something like a pill or a pill,” McKenzie Anderson, a forensic scientist at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, questioned prosecutor Matthew. Frank.
‘It was in the back seat of the group car. “I was not sure what it was,” she said. “I did not give any forensic significance at the time.”
But Anderson said the pill was among the various “irregular shapes” objects, which were apparently chewed-up pills found on the back seat of police vehicle 320 – Chauvin’s vehicle.
The state’s chief investigator, James Reyerson, testified earlier Wednesday that law enforcement officers were present when defense attorneys reopened the vehicle.
“The defense would not have access if you were not there,” Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson remarked as he questioned Reyerson.
Both the police vehicle and Floyd’s Mercedes Benz SUV were seized, searched and taken away, two days after the fatal incident.
Both are sealed and locked in a safe place.
Floyd’s SUV was searched in December at the request of state prosecutors.
Forensic investigators found two pills in the center console of the Benz that turned out to be methamphetamine, and fentanyl, Anderson said.
A pipe with traces of THC and packets of Suboxone, a drug used by patients addicted to opioids, were also found in the vehicle.
In another testimony, Nelson on Wednesday tried to convince the jury that Chauvin’s knee was on parts of the encounter on Floyd’s back, not on his neck.
Prosecutors will continue to present their case against Chauvin on Thursday.
The 45-year-old former police officer is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
