Today marked Day 12 of the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, accused of killing George Floyd last summer.
The prosecution rested its case, and the defense began to present its case, with defense attorney Eric Nelson calling a number of witnesses to the stand including former Minneapolis Police officer Scott Creighton who was involved in a traffic stop with George Floyd in 2019.
Creighton is seen in the body camera video ordering Floyd to put his hands on the dash board, another officer tells Floyd to open his mouth and spit out what he had in it.
Prosecutor Erin Eldridge in cross-examination asked him a number of questions, ""Your attention was focused on Mr. Floyd correct?" she said. "Yes it was",said Creighton. "And Mr. Floyd didn't drop dead while you were interacting with him correct?" she said. " No" he answered.
Retired Hennepin County paramedic Michelle Moseng also took the stand. She attended to George Floyd in 2019 at the 4th precinct. She said Floyd admitted that he was addicted to opioids:
"He told me that he had been taking multiple every 20 minutes, I don't remember if it was oxy or percocet but it was opiods."
Judge Peter Cahill reminded the jury that the testimony from the 2019 incident was presented only to show what effects the ingestion of opioids may or may not have had on Floyd's physical well-being.
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The defense also called Minneapolis Park Police officer Peter Chang, who responded to the scene in May of 2020. The jury watched video from his body camera as well, which was taken from across the street and captured the sound of one of the witnesses.
"I tried, I told him you can't win," the man said.
The defense is arguing that Geroge Floyd died from underlying health problems and opioid use, and not from anything Chauvin did.
Shawanda Hill took the witness stand as well, describing how she met Floyd in the store before he offered her a lift home. Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank cross-examining Hill about police approaching the car:
"Other than being sleepy or nodding off, did he seem abnormal to you," he asked. "Not at all," answered Hill. "And did he seems startled when the officer pulled a gun on him?" he continued. "Very," said Hill.
Hill went on to describe Floyd's reaction when police came to the car and tapped on the window:
"He seen the man had the gun at the window, and he instantly grabbed the wheel and start saying please don't kill me, what did I do, please don't kill me."
The defense ended the day with a use of force expert, Barry Vance Brodd, who works as a consultant with police departments says Mr. Chauvin didn't do anything wrong, and it didn't matter that Mr. Floyd was handcuffed.
"Any resister, handcuffed or not, should go into the prone control position."
The defense is expected to rest its case by the end of the week, with closing arguments set for next Monday.
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