It is day 13 of the testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with the death of George Floyd.
The defense portion of the trial will continue today.
If you’re just reading, here’s a summary of it what happened yesterday in court:
Retired Minneapolis Police Officer: The first witness to the defense was retired Minneapolis police officer Scott Creighton who testified in 2019 about an arrest involving George Floyd. welfare of George Floyd. “
Body cameras showed that Floyd was not following the officer’s orders to put his hand on the car’s dashboard. In the video you can hear Floyd say he didn’t want to be shot. Creighton testified that the situation “escalated very quickly.”
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 had told her he was taking an opioid every 20 minutes, “and then another when the officer came.” She told attorney Eric Nelson that Floyd was angry and confused.
During the cross-examination, Monseng said Floyd could walk, get up, and be alert. She said he did not stop breathing and did not go into cardiac arrest.
George Floyd’s friend: Shawanda Hill was summoned by the defense to testify. She was in the backseat of the car with Floyd at Cup Foods. She testified that he was “happy, normal, talking, alert” when she saw him.
She said that Floyd fell asleep while they were in the car. Hill said she could wake him up, but then he went back to sleep. She said she was able to wake him up a second time when the police approached the vehicle. He immediately said he grabbed the steering 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 to 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 about the safety of the officers.
The defense played body camera footage of Chang. It turned out by standing by Floyd’s car around the corner from the location where Floyd was taken into custody. During the cross-examination, Chang testified that while at Floyd’s car, he could no longer see what was going on.
The Minneapolis Police Department Medical Support Trainer: The defense called Minneapolis police officer Nicole MacKenzie, who is the department’s medical support coordinator. She previously testified as a witness for the prosecution.
She said one of the agents on the scene, Thomas Lane, had been trained to detect a condition called “agitated delirium.” During the cross-examination, she testified that officers are told to roll suspects onto their side because that condition could compromise breathing.
Use-of-force expert: Barry Brodd, a former police officer and expert on violence, was the last witness of the day. He testified that Chauvin’s actions were “justified” and that it was not the use of deadly force.
Brodd is being held by lawyer Eric Nelson. He has been paid for his work on the case, he testified.
On Monday, the prosecution’s expert testified that Chauvin’s actions represented deadly violence and were unreasonable.
During the cross-examination, Brodd said Chauvin would have known Floyd was not responding or resisting. He said he heard another officer say that Floyd had no pulse while Chauvin was on top of him. Brodd also testified that kneeling on a suspect in the prone position may be a use of force, having previously stated that this was not the case.
Check out the recap of Day 12 of HLN Mike Galanos: