The prosecution is set to rest its case Tuesday in the Derek Chauvin murder trial and closing arguments could be as soon as a week from today.
Monday, the state brought three witnesses to the stand: the first a cardiologist who testified Floyd did not die of a heart attack or drug overdose and instead cardiopulmonary arrest “due to low oxygen induced by prone restraint.” Dr. Jonathan Rich said Floyd’s heart did not show evidence of injury and that Floyd’s death was “absolutely preventable.”
Then was the spark of life testimony from Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd. The 39-year-old Houston resident told the jury about their upbringing playing the video game Tecmo Bowl and how Floyd would get the kids ready for school in the morning.
The pool reporter inside the courtroom reported the jury was intently listening as pictures showing Floyd as a young boy in his mother’s arms, his youth as an athlete, and him with his daughter were shown.
“He was like a person that everybody loved around the community,” Floyd said. “He just knew how to make people feel better.”
Philonise said George was not able to see his mother, who was quickly declining in hospice care, before she died in 2018. Philonise said George called “mama” at her casket. It was also the last time Philonise saw his brother.
University of South Carolina law professor and use of force expert Seth Stoughton testified the force of Chauvin’s knee, as well as the prone position, was “unreasonable, excessive, and contrary to accepted police practices.”
“If you think of someone who’s lying face down where the head or the face is against the ground and the chest is against the ground that means the neck is kind of like a suspension bridge,” Stoughton said. “So, it’s generally accepted in policing, you don’t put weight down on someone’s neck in that position because of the potential that the neck won’t be able to handle that weight.”
Stoughton said as soon as Floyd was handcuffed and in custody, he should have been removed from the prone position.
Judge Peter Cahill said the defense is slated to begin bringing its witnesses to the stand tomorrow and possibly finishing before Friday. Closing arguments are expected Monday to avoid sequestering the jury over the weekend before court resumed. Friday could be a day off to allow both sides to prepare for closing arguments, but he told the jury that Monday they should “bring a bag.”
The jury will be sequestered for deliberations, but not before, as argued this morning by defense attorney Eric Nelson.
“This incident last night highlights, and I think brings it to the forefront of the jury’s mindset, that a verdict in this case is going to have consequences,” Nelson said.
Judge Cahill said what happened in Brooklyn Center was not a verdict in a similar criminal trial and they were not comparable situations.