Prosecutors rest their case in Derek Chauvin trial

Prosecutors in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd have rested their case.

Derek Chauvin is charged with second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors have said he knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, during an arrest last May.

Prosecutors sought to prove to the jury that Floyd died from asphyxia, or insufficient oxygen, from Chauvin kneeling on his neck. The trial will now be in the hands of the defense, which has argued Floyd’s use of illegal drugs and his underlying health conditions caused his death.

Almost 40 witnesses were called to the stand, including the Minneapolis police chief and other experienced officers, who openly condemned Chauvin’s treatment of Floyd, as well as bystanders and medical experts.

The prosecution also called two “spark of life” witnesses to the stand to humanize Floyd — his girlfriend, Courteney Ross, and his brother Philonise Floyd.

April 13, 202102:04

Police had been called to Cup Foods, a convenience store, on May 25 after a cashier suspected that Floyd had used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Chauvin, who is white, was recorded in a widely viewed bystander video kneeling on Floyd, who was Black. Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — were fired a day after Floyd died. Kueng, Lane and Thao are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter and are scheduled to stand trial in August.

Floyd’s death sparked international protests against racism and police brutality.

Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Floyd and declared his death a homicide, testified last week that fentanyl and heart disease had been contributing factors, but that the police officers’ actions were the main cause.

To convict Chauvin of murder, the jury needs to find that his restraint of Floyd was a “substantial causal factor” in his death.

The testimony of other medical experts, including a world-renowned pulmonologist, has bolstered prosecution claims that Floyd died from being held down by Chauvin.

“A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died,” said Dr. Martin J. Tobin, a pulmonologist and critical care physician, who testified Thursday.

Tobin said Floyd died from a low level of oxygen. He said it was not a sudden death.

Minneapolis’ police chief testified that Chauvin violated a number of departmental policies that he had been trained in, such as use of force, neck restraints and de-escalation. It is rare for a police chief to testify against a police officer.

“To continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy,” Chief Medaria Arradondo said. “It is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or values.”