Testimony in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, for the first time, delved into police procedure and use of force policy. Jurors also heard from three first responders who treated Floyd who testified that they knew from the moment they arrived that resuscitation would be a very difficult task.
Sgt. David Pleoger was Officer Chauvin’s supervisory shift manager at the Third Precinct on May 25, 2020. He was the sergeant that the first state witness, Minneapolis dispatcher Jena Scurry, called to report what she saw as a concerning use of force incident she witnessed on a city camera — a first in her career as a dispatcher.
Pleoger described what is and isn’t reportable use of force per Minneapolis Police Department policy as part of his role in reviewing incidents. After lengthy discussion amongst counsel and Judge Peter Cahill, with direction to establish a “foundation,” Pleoger was later asked by prosecutor Steve Schleicher his opinion.
“Sir, based on your review of the body-worn camera footage, do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of Mr. Floyd should have ended in this encounter,” Schleicher asked.
“Yes,” Pleoger responded.
“What is it?” Schleicher asked.
“When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers they could have ended their restraint,” Pleoger said
Pleoger said Chauvin originally told him Floyd was “going crazy” and there was a medical incident. It was once both were at HCMC checking on Floyd’s condition that Chauvin informed his superior that his knee was on Floyd’s neck. Pleoger said Chauvin did not say how long.
Two paramedics who treated Floyd, as well as a Minneapolis Fire captain, testified about how a pulse was never found in Floyd from the time they arrived on scene to when he was transported to HCMC.
Hennepin EMS paramedic Derek Smith took Floyd’s pulse and checked his pupils as he was still under Chauvin’s knee.“What did his condition appear to be to you,” prosecutor Erin Eldridge asked.
“In lay terms, I thought he was dead,” Smith said.
Minneapolis Fire Department Captain Jeremy Norton assisted the paramedics at the ambulance after it moved from the scene to 36th and Park. He and his crew first responded to the scene before realizing the ambulance had already left when they found a distraught off-duty firefighter Genevieve Hansen, who testified as a bystander this week.
“We came in with very little information,” Norton said. “Even when I spoke with her at the scene I had no understanding of the cause of her distress. Once we got in the ambulance and I saw the severity of Mr. Floyd’s condition and the gravity, I understood, I was able to infer or put together what she had been talking about and I understood the justification for duress.”
Norton said he reported the incident to a superior in the fire department.
“I was aware that a man had been killed in police custody and I wanted to notify my supervisors to notify the appropriate people above us in the city,” Norton said.
For defense attorney Eric Nelson the subject of the witnesses opened the possibility to ask about two key points for their side: the anger of the crowd diverting officers’ attention from rendering aid to Floyd, as Nelson outlined in opening statements, and the impact of drugs on patients.
Smith, the paramedic, testified that the scene “didn’t feel like a welcoming environment.” Nelson also asked the paramedics if people resuscitated from an overdose could become aggressive or violent. Paramedic Seth Bravinder said it happened sometimes.
Jurors also heard from George Floyd's girlfriend who tearfully told the story of how they met at a Salvation Army shelter where she said he was a security guard with "this great, deep Southern voice.”
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Courteney Ross, 44, took the stand sharing that the pair had been dating for almost three years. Floyd was not born in Minnesota so she said she enjoyed showing him around Minneapolis. Ross said he loved sports, eating, and working out.
Prosecutors asked her about Floyd’s mother, who died in 2018. “When he came back from Houston, he was broken, a shell of himself,” she said through tears. “He didn’t have the same bounce. He loved his mom very much.”She also told the jury that both she and Floyd struggled with addiction."It’s a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. We both suffer from chronic pain," Ross said. "Mine was in my neck and his was in his back. We both had prescriptions, but after prescriptions were filled, we got addicted."In March 2020, Ross said Floyd was hospitalized for an overdose for five days after complaining about stomach pain.
Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, asked Ross to look at a transcript of her interview with the FBI during which she "speculated" Floyd had gotten pills from Shawanda Hill. Hill was one of the people with Floyd at Cup Foods before he died.
Ross said she saw a change in his behavior in the two weeks before death.
A week before he died, Ross said Floyd bought pills from Morries Hall, who along with Hill was with Floyd when officers stopped him at 38th and Chicago. Ross testified she did not see the interaction take place because she stayed in the car, but believed Floyd had bought pills from Hall. Hall, through his attorney in court documents Wednesday, said if called to testify, he would plead the 5th.
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, Floyd family attorneys, pushed back against the expensive testimony about Floyd’s drug use.
“As the defense attempts to construct the narrative that George Floyd’s cause of death was the Fentanyl in his system, we want to remind the world who witnessed his death on video that George was walking, talking, laughing, and breathing just fine before Derek Chauvin held his knee to George’s neck, blocking his ability to breathe and extinguishing his life for all to see,” they said in a statement.
A half-day of court is scheduled Friday. According to the pool reporter based on a conversation between prosecutor Jerry Blackwell and Judge Peter Cahill, MPD chief Medaria Arredondo could testify Friday.