The prosecution is expected to call more witnesses to testify in court on Thursday in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, who is charged in the death of unarmed Black man George Floyd.
Several senior members of the Minneapolis police force have testified against Mr Chauvin this week in a damning indictment of the former officer’s actions, with police chief Medaria Arradondo telling the court on Monday that officer Chauvin should not have put his knee into Mr Floyd’s neck.
On Tuesday, Jody Stiger, a use of force expert from the Los Angeles Police Department, agreed, stating in testimony: “My opinion was that the force was excessive.”
Returning to court on Wednesday, Mr Stiger claimed that once Mr Floyd was on his stomach and in handcuffs, Mr Chauvin and other police officers should’ve used “no force.”
Mr Stiger said that Minneapolis police continued using “deadly” force on Mr Floyd last May for more than nine minutes, failing to meet the constitutional “objective reasonableness” standard that police must follow when interacting with suspects.
“My opinion was that no force should’ve been used once he was in that position,” Mr Stiger said on Wednesday morning.
“He was in the prone position. He was handcuffed. He was not attempting to evade. He was not attempting to resist. And the pressure that was being caused by the body weight could cause positional asphyxia, which could cause death,” he added.
The jury is set to reconvene at 9:15am CT (3:15 UK) on Thursday, as the prosecution is expected to call several more witnesses to testify.
George Floyd family attorney says he believes Chauvin will be convicted, but system has ‘broken’ his heart before
The George Floyd family attorney says he believes Derek Chauvin will be convicted in his murder trial, but adds that the system has “broken” his heart before.
Speaking on The View on Wednesday evening, George Floyd family attorney Ben Crump spoke about the possibility of Mr Chauvin being convicted.
“In my heart, I believe that Derek Chauvin will be convicted for the killing of Mr Floyd, but the American legal system has broken my heart before,” he said.
Mr Chauvin is on trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in the fatal arrest of the unarmed Black man on 25 May, 2020. Three other former officers will go on trial later this year.
Derek Chauvin’s defence claim his knee wasn’t always on Floyd’s neck as expert says clear ‘something was not right’
Police should have realised “something is not right” with George Floyd and given him medical care as he began to fade away during his fatal arrest, Los Angeles Police Department use of force expert Jody Stiger testified during the Derek Chauvin trial on Wednesday.
“As the time went on, early in the video, you could see that Mr Floyd’s health was deteriorating,” Mr Stiger said. “His breath was getting lower. His tone of voice was getting lower. His movements were starting to cease at that point. As an officer on the scene, you have duty to realsze something is not right. “
Officers, he explained, have a legal duty to provide medical care to those in their custody.
“Once you take someone into custody then you’re responsible for their care,” he said. “You’re obligated to as part of your duty.”
Police review says Derek Chauvin could have ‘ended restraint’ when George Floyd stopped resisting
A former Minneapolis police sergeant who was initially called to the scene to review the use of force during George Floyd’s arrest told jurors on last week that former police officer Derek Chauvin could have let him up much sooner, once he stopped resisting arrest.
Assessing whether Mr Chauvin’s use of force was reasonable, and whether he carried out his duty to provide timely medical care for a person in his custody, are among the central questions in his murder trial.
He is on trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in the fatal arrest of the unarmed Black man on 25 May, 2020. Three other former officers will go on trial later this year.
“When Mr Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could’ve ended their restraint,” retired officer David Pleoger, who reviewed the arrest, testified last week.
Defence claims George Floyd told police ‘I ate too many drugs’, but witnesses disagree
George Floyd allegedly told officers “I ate too many drugs” while he was being handcuffed during his fatal arrest, according to a brief, noisy video clip defence attorneys played in court on Wednesday during the Derek Chauvin murder trial.
“We don’t look at force in a vacuum,” defence attorney Eric Nelson argued. “The suspect may be saying some things. Bystanders may be saying some things. In the chaos it’s easy to miss some things,” he said as he introduced the recording.
Witnesses who reviewed the footage before and during the trial of Mr Chauvin disagreed that Mr Floyd admitted to using drugs on tape.
George Floyd’s family says footage of arrest painful to watch
George Floyd’s family have said that security camera and body-cam footage of his arrest last May is painful to watch, as Derek Chauvin’s murder trial for his death continues.
Footage filmed by security cameras, bystanders and police body-cams were repeatedly shown during the first few days of the trial last week.
Rodney Floyd, Mr Floyd’s youngest brother, told The Wall Street Journal that watching the footage “hit me hard, it hit me hard.”
Rodney told theJournal that he watched footage from inside the courtroom on 31 March, but looked down and shook his head while video showed officers struggle to put his brother into a squad car.
While Mr Floyd’s nephew Brandon Williams said that he “dropped tears in the courtroom,” adding: “It’s hard to relive that moment and watch those videos over and over. But then again, we know that we have to be strong because we want justice more than anything.”
Other family members told the outlet that they had to leave the viewing room as footage of Mr Floyd’s death played, while some have avoided the courtroom altogether as they cannot bear to see Mr Chauvin.
‘No force’ should have been used on George Floyd, LAPD expert says
Once George Floyd was on his stomach in handcuffs, police should’ve used “no force,” according to a Los Angeles Police Department use of force expert who testified in the Derek Chauvin murder trial on Wednesday morning.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, Mr Stiger claimed that once Mr Floyd was on his stomach and in handcuffs, Mr Chauvin and other police officers should’ve used “no force.”
“My opinion was that no force should’ve been used once he was in that position,” Mr Stiger said on Wednesday morning.
“He was in the prone position. He was handcuffed. He was not attempting to evade. He was not attempting to resist. And the pressure that was being caused by the body weight could cause positional asphyxia, which could cause death,” he added.
