The judge presiding over the former murder trial of Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, denied an acquittal request by the officer’s defense team on Wednesday.
Chauvin is accused of killing George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by pressing a knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest after Floyd allegedly tried to forge a counterfeit $ 20 bill in a store to use.
The acquittal came during the second day of defense of the case in a courtroom in Minneapolis after prosecutors rested their case Tuesday after 11 days of testimony that included video evidence.
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Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill dismissed Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson’s argument that prosecutors had not proved Chauvin guilty.
“The court’s duty at this stage is to consider the evidence in the light of the state, and even if there are inconsistencies between large and small witnesses, the jury can believe party and not the other,” Cahill said. in his decision, according to The Hill.
Requests for acquittal are usually made halfway through a trial and are almost always denied, according to the outlet.
In this image from the video, Judge Peter Cahill, District of Hennepin, discusses motions before the court on Monday, April 12, 2021 in the trial of Derek Chauvin, former police officer in Minneapolis, in the courthouse in Hennepin County, Minneapolis. (Associated Press)
Prosecutors during their part of the trial asked numerous medical experts who testified that Floyd, 46, died of an oxygen deficiency as a result of placing Chauvin’s knee on his neck for a period of time.
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The defense team on Wednesday denied that Floyd’s heart disease contributed to his death, with witness David Fowler, a former Maryland medical investigator, suggesting that Floyd’s drug use and exposure to exhaust fumes from a nearby police vehicle also factors could be, reports The Hill. .
If convicted of second-degree murder, Chauvin could face up to 40 years in prison.