The defense of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is expected to immediately call medical witnesses to the scene in hopes of combating the claims of former witnesses who testified that George Floyd died of oxygen deficiency.
For the first time in the trial, a witness testified Tuesday that Chauvin was justified when he spent more than nine minutes on Mr. Floyd knelt. However, the defense will want to expand its case by calling medical witnesses who can provide expert evidence on the cause of Mr. Floyd.
Several witnesses called by the prosecutor testified that Floyd died of an oxygen deficiency and that they saw no evidence of an overdose of drugs or a heart attack. These other possible causes of death were the main focus of the defense from the beginning of the trial.
The trial moves forward amid the ongoing dropout rate of a recent shooting of a black man by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis. The police officer who shot dead Daunte Wright, 20, resigned on Tuesday along with the department’s police chief.
The fate of mr. Chauvin, who is charged with the murder of Mr. Floyd, relies largely on how jurors answer two questions: whether his actions caused Mr. Floyd died, and whether he violated the policy of violence when he held his knee Floyd for nine and a half minutes on Mr.
The defense’s top witness Tuesday, Barry Brodd, a violent expert, gave his testimony with unequivocal support from Mr. Chauvin begins, while cross-examination by a prosecutor has revealed some inconsistency with his position.
Mr. Brodd initially testified that Chauvin’s self-control was not a “use of force” at all, but rather a self-control that was considered safe and generally painless. However, when a prosecutor pushed him out over the issue, Mr. Brodd conceded that the restriction is a use of force under the policy of the Minneapolis Police Department.
He also later admitted that the restraint could cause pain and went back and forth with a prosecutor who played a video of the arrest that Mr. Floyd caught up and said, “Everything hurts,” as well as other cries of pain.
Mr. Brodd said he heard the comments during his review of the arrest, but that he did not notice. He also said that Mr Floyd, in his opinion, continued to resist the officers, even when he was handcuffed on the street and with his face down, stuck under the knee of Mr. Chauvin. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked if Mr. Floyd actually “squirms on the ground because he can’t breathe.”
The cross-examination of Mr. Brodd could be costly for the defense if judges decide he has lost some credibility by returning to the use of force.
Jurors also heard on Tuesday from Shawanda Hill, who along with Mr. Floyd was in the car when he was first approached by officers. Me. Hill said he was “happy, normal, talkative and alert” in the Cup Foods convenience store in the minutes before he was arrested. Nadat mnr. Floyd was in the vehicle, Ms. Hill said he fell asleep. Besides being tired, she said that Mr. Floyd looks normal and in good health.