BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) – Prosecutors rested their case on Tuesday against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer on trial for murder and manslaughter over the death of George Floyd.
“Your Honour, the State of Minnesota rests,” Prosecutor Steve Schleicher told Judge Peter Cahill.
Prosecutors called nearly 40 witnesses during the first two weeks of the high-profile trial, including medical experts, current and former police officers and bystanders to Floyd’s May 25, 2020 arrest.
The 45-year-old Chauvin, who is white, was seen in a video taken by a bystander kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the handcuffed 46-year-old Black man complained repeatedly, “I can’t breathe.”
The video torched off protests against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States and around the world.
After the prosecution rested its case, Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, began his presentation by calling a police officer to the witness stand who was involved in an arrest of Floyd a year earlier.
The former officer was involved in an arrest of Floyd a year earlier, during which it was established that Floyd had taken illegal drugs.
Chauvin’s defence claims Floyd’s death was due to his consumption of fentanyl and methamphetamine and underlying health conditions.
Medical experts called by the prosecution said Floyd’s death was caused by a “low level of oxygen” from the neck restraint and not due to drugs or pre-existing conditions.
Police officers are rarely convicted in the United States when facing criminal charges and a conviction on any of the counts against Chauvin will require the nine-woman, five-man jury to return a unanimous verdict.
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