15:50
Stiger says the police should have stopped the violence when Floyd stopped resisting
Stiger, an outside expert brought in by the prosecution, told the jury that police involved in George Floyd’s restraint should have ended any use of force to the point that he was put down and no longer resisted.
“No force should have been used once he was in that position,” Steiger told the jury under direct investigation.
It’s a reiteration of what other members of the Minneapolis Police Department have already told the jury, but the fact that it’s now being said by an outside expert lends further weight to this argument.
Steiger says to the point that Floyd is being put down by agents including Chauvin “He tried not to avoid. He didn’t try to resist. ”
He says the agents should have considered the fatal risk of it posional choking.
Stiger has finished his direct questioning and is about to be questioned by Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney.
15:32
We are on the road again and Sgt Rising has resumed his testimony.
From the outset, prosecutors have asked Stiger to state how long he understands Chauvin placed Floyd in a knee-to-neck fixation.
He reiterates that critical timeframe now so often mentioned in this trial: nine minutes and 29 secondsIt is all the time that Chauvin has used what prosecutors describe as lethal and unreasonable violence against George Floyd, who was unarmed.
Stiger is asked by prosecutors whether the use of force should be reasonable at all times.
“Yes.” He answers.
Stiger is now asked to view a number of stills showing different moments during the arrest. He points out that stills show Chauvin’s knee in Floyd’s neck, and the use of pain relief on Floyd’s hands and arms when lying and cuffed.
15:14
We expect the hearing to resume within 10 minutes.
Before things start again I thought I would share a profile interview I wrote last month with the Vice President of Minneapolis City Council, Andrea Jenkins
Jenkins was one of the most powerful voices in the community after George Floyd’s death, and I spoke with her at length about how the city is preparing for this groundbreaking process.
She told me about Zoom:
“It [the murder trial] will be traumatic. We want to have as peaceful a situation as we can, and really have the resources there that people can turn to when there are problems. ”
She also spoke of frequent contact with members of George Floyd’s family.
“They are really more concerned about justice,” she told me. “They want to see justice and they want to make sure George Floyd’s name is honored for the role his legacy plays in social justice.”
Jenkins is also America’s first black openly transgender woman elected to public office and she shared some more details about her childhood and her tenure.
You can read the full profile interview here:
14:12
Day eight of the murder trial against Derek Chauvin
Good morning and welcome to The Guardian’s ongoing live coverage and analysis of the Derek Chauvin murder case.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who is white, is facing three criminal charges in connection with the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man whose death led to a global outbreak of racism. The most serious of these is second-degree murder, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 40 years.
The trial marks an unprecedented moment in the history of Minnesota criminal justice as proceedings are streamed live due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We have seen a large number of witnesses testify to the prosecution, including senior figures in the Minneapolis Police Department, a range of eyewitnesses and medical professionals.
Yesterday the state saw its first expert witness calls, Sergeant Jody Stiger, a 28-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department. Like others with expert knowledge of police use of force, Stiger told the court that he believed Chauvin’s long-term use of a knee-to-neck restraint was excessive force.
“My opinion was that violence was excessive,” Stiger testified, telling the court that he had watched the police’s use of the police force and recorded a video recording George Floyd’s arrest.
Sergeant Stiger is expected to continue to testify when the court resumes CT this morning at 9 a.m.
My colleague Chris McGreal has reported on the trial every day so far and submitted another report after yesterday’s testimony.
We will continue to bring you the main thrust of testimonials as well as deeper analysis.
Updated