The third week of the Derek Chauvin trial began just hours after a crowd of protesters gathered outside Minneapolis and clashed with police officers, in protest of a fatal police shooting on Sunday.
Eric J. Nelson, the defense lawyer for Mr. Chauvin, the former police officer who is accused of murder in the death of George Floyd, argued that the shooting and subsequent protests might make the jurors more likely to issue a guilty verdict, fearing that not doing so could set off a rash of civil unrest. The judge denied a request by Mr. Nelson to sequester the jury and to re-interview each juror about the shooting and the protests.
Closing arguments in the trial of Mr. Chauvin are expected to come at the beginning of next week. On Monday, jurors heard from Mr. Floyd’s brother as well as a cardiologist — one of several medical witnesses called by prosecutors — who said he saw no evidence that Mr. Floyd died from a drug overdose or a heart attack. Here are the takeaways from Day 11.
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The day began with the backdrop of protests that kicked off on Sunday night in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb about 10 miles north of the courthouse. Chief Tim Gannon of the Brooklyn Center Police Department said that an officer had shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, after pulling him over for a traffic violation. After the car was pulled over, the officer found that the driver had a warrant for his arrest. As the police tried to arrest him, Mr. Wright stepped back into his car, and the officer shot him. Protesters gathered on Sunday night outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department. Some of the demonstrators threw objects at police officers, who responded by firing chemical agents and rubber bullets. On Monday, Chief Gannon said the officer meant to grab her Taser, but she accidentally grabbed her pistol and shot Mr. Wright.
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Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, gave tearful testimony about Mr. Floyd as a brother and a son. He talked about how they played video games together when they were children. “I finally beat him in a game, and I was just so happy,” he said, giving jurors some glimpse into George Floyd’s personality and family life. “Spark of life” testimonies, like that of Philonise Floyd’s, are generally not allowed, but Minnesota courts allow them as a way to present a fuller picture of victims as human beings — personalities and all. While looking at a photo of George Floyd as a toddler, sleeping while his mother cradled him and smiled, Philonise Floyd began to cry. Their mother died in 2018, and George Floyd was deeply affected, his brother said. “When we went to the funeral, George just sat there at the casket over and over again,” he said. “He would just say, ‘Mom, Mom’ over and over again.” Philonise Floyd said his brother was a talented athlete. When George Floyd was young, he would mark his height on the wall, always wanting to be taller to have an edge in sports. “He always wanted to be the best,” his brother said.
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Dr. Jonathan Rich, a cardiologist called to the witness stand by prosecutors, said that Mr. Floyd’s death was “absolutely preventable” and that officers should have immediately begun chest compressions once they failed to find a pulse. Dr. Rich is one of several medical expert witnesses who have testified that Mr. Floyd died as a result of his interaction with police officers, not from a drug overdose or a heart attack, as the defense has suggested. Dr. Rich said Mr. Floyd died from “cardio pulmonary arrest” caused by low oxygen levels induced by the police restraint. “He was trying to get enough oxygen and because of the position that he was subjected to, the heart thus did not have enough oxygen,” he said. Mr. Chauvin had used his knee to hold Mr. Floyd handcuffed and facedown on the street for nine and a half minutes. Dr. Rich said he believed that had Mr. Floyd not been restrained in that way, he would have survived.
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Seth Stoughton, a law professor and expert on the use of force, also testified and is expected to be the prosecution’s final witness. Mr. Stoughton said officers severely mishandled the arrest of Mr. Floyd on nearly every level. The prone position where Mr. Floyd was held for nine and a half minutes is meant to be a temporary position, he said, typically used for applying handcuffs on a suspect. In addition, he said the dangers of the prone position — that it can make it more difficult for people to breathe, particularly when there is extra weight on their back or neck — had been well known in policing for decades.
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April 13, 2021 at 04:39AM
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Here Are The Takeaways from Day 11 of the Derek Chauvin Trial. - The New York Times
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