The prosecution rested its case today in the trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. Then, it was the defense’s turn to call witnesses.
Here’s what happened in court on Tuesday:
Retired Minneapolis Police officer
The defense’s first witness was retired Minneapolis Police officer Scott Creighton who testified about an arrest involving George Floyd in 2019. The judge allowed the testimony “solely for the limited purpose of showing the effects the ingestion of opioids may or may not have had on the physical well-being of George Floyd.”
Body-camera footage showed that Floyd was not complying with officer’s orders to put his hand on the dashboard of the car. In the video you can hear Floyd saying he didn’t want to get shot. Creighton testified that the situation “escalated real quick.”
Retired paramedic
The next witness was retired paramedic Michelle Monseng who treated Floyd after he was taken into custody in 2019. She told the defense that Floyd told her he took an opioid every 20 minutes, “and then another one as the officer came up.” She told defense lawyer Eric Nelson that Floyd was upset and confused.
During cross-examination, Monseng said Floyd was able to walk, stand up and was alert. She said he didn’t stop breathing and didn’t go into cardiac arrest.
George Floyd’s friend
Shawanda Hill was subpoenaed by the defense to testify. She was in the back seat of the car with Floyd at Cup Foods. She testified that he was “happy, normal, talking, alert” when she saw him.
She said Floyd fell asleep while they were sitting in the car. Hill said that she was able to wake him up but then he nodded off again. She said that she was able to wake him up a second time when police approached the vehicle, saying he instantly grabbed the wheel and said “please, please, don’t kill me! Don’t shoot me!”
Minneapolis Park Police officer
Peter Chang was on duty and responded to a call at Cup Foods to assist officers. He told the jury that bystanders on the sidewalk became “very aggressive” during the incident and that he was concerned for the officers’ safety.
The defense played body-camera footage from Chang. It showed by standing by Floyd’s car around the corner from the location where Floyd was being taken into custody. During cross-examination Chang testified that while he was at Floyd’s car, he could no longer see what was going on.
Minneapolis Police Department’s medical support trainer
The defense called Minneapolis Police officer Nicole MacKenzie who is the medical support coordinator for the department. She previously testified as a witness for the prosecution.
She said one of the officers at the scene, Thomas Lane, was trained to detect a condition called “excited delirium.” During cross-examination she testified that officers are told to roll suspects on their side because that condition can compromise breathing.
Use-of-force expert
Barry Brodd, a former police officer and use-of-force expert, was the last witness of the day. He testified that Chauvin’s actions were “justified” and that it was not a use of deadly force.
Brodd is being retained by defense attorney Eric Nelson. He has been paid for his work on the case, he testified.
On Monday, the prosecution’s use-of-force expert testified that Chauvin’s actions represented deadly force and were unreasonable.
During cross-examination, Brodd said Chauvin would have known that Floyd was not responsive and was not resisting. He said he heard another officer say that Floyd did not have a pulse while Chauvin was on top of him. Brodd also testified that kneeling on a suspect in prone position could be a use of force, after previously testifying that it was not.
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