MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd ‘s death enters its third week Monday, with the state nearing the end of a case built on searing witness accounts, official rejections of the neck restraint and expert testimony attributing Floyd’s death to a lack of oxygen.
Derek Chauvin, 45, who is white, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s May 25 death. Police were called to a neighborhood market where Floyd, who was Black, was accused of trying to pass a counterfeit bill. Bystander video of Floyd, pinned by Chauvin and two other officers as he cried “I can’t breathe” and eventually grew still, sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson argues that Floyd’s death was caused by drug use and underlying health conditions including a bad heart. He’s expected to call his own medical experts after the prosecution wraps its case, expected early this week. Nelson hasn’t said whether Chauvin will testify.
Testimony will resume after an evening of unrest in Brooklyn Center, a suburb just north of Minneapolis, following the death of a Black man shot by police in a traffic stop Sunday. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the city’s police station after Daunte Wright’s death, officers fired gas and flash-bang grenades and some businesses were broken into, recalling some of the violence that followed Floyd’s death last May.
Judge Peter Cahill has asked jurors to avoid news during Chauvin’s trial.