Derek Chauvin’s lawyers found a ‘speedball’ pill with George Floyd’s DNA in the ex-Minneapolis cop’s car – months after it was seized and searched by police, as it emerged Wednesday during Chauvin’s murder trial.
Minnesota forensics scientists said the pill contained traces of fentanyl and methamphetamine when it was tested at the request of Chauvin’s defense team, which found it during a new police car search in January.
The car had been sealed since police first searched it on May 27 – two days after the death of Floyd’s police custody – and with the items in it photographed but untested.
“At the time, I again had no information that I was looking for anything like a pill or that looked like a pill,” said McKenzie Anderson, a forensic scientist with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, under questioning by district attorney Matthew Frank. .
He was in the backseat of the police car. I wasn’t sure what it was, ”she said. “So at the time I didn’t give it any forensic meaning.”
But Anderson said the pill was one of the “irregularly shaped” items that appeared to be chewed pills in the backseat of police vehicle 320 – Chauvin’s car.
The state’s lead investigator, James Reyerson, testified earlier on Wednesday that law enforcement officials were present when defense attorneys reopened the vehicle.
“The defense wouldn’t have access if you weren’t there,” Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson noted as he questioned Reyerson.
Both the police vehicle and Floyd’s Mercedes Benz SUV were seized, searched and photographed two days after the deadly incident.
Both were sealed and locked up in a secure state location.
Floyd’s SUV was searched again in December at the request of prosecutors.
Forensic investigators found two pills in the Benz’s center console that turned out to be methamphetamine and fentanyl, Anderson said.
A pipe with traces of THC and packets of Suboxone, a drug used by patients addicted to opioids, was also found in the vehicle.
In another testimony on Wednesday, Nelson tried to convince the jury that Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s back, not his neck, for parts of the encounter.
Prosecutors will continue to present their case against Chauvin on Thursday.
The 45-year-old ex-cop is charged with second degree manslaughter, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.
