Derek Chauvin trial: Arguments open against ex-cop in George Floyd’s death

March 29 (UPI) — The criminal trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd begins in earnest on Monday, with the former policeman facing a charge of murder.

After a jury selection process that took a couple weeks, attorneys will make their opening statements beginning at 9 a.m. CDT Monday.

The jury can acquit Chauvin or convict him of murder in the second or third degree, or manslaughter in the second degree. He posted a $1 million bond in October and left prison to await trial.

The trial is expected to lean heavily on expert medical witnesses to determine what killed Floyd last May 25, when his death — which was captured on video — led to a national movement against police brutality and racial injustice.

Attorneys for Chauvin are expected to argue that drugs and pre-existing health conditions were the catalysts for Floyd’s death. Part of that is supported by the autopsy report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

Prosecutors are expected to contend that the 46-year-old Floyd died of asphyxiation because Chauvin placed his knee on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes as he and other officers attempted to arrest him.

The video shows that Chauvin ignored Floyd’s repeated pleas to remove the knee from his neck, saying he couldn’t breathe. The footage, which is expected to be the prosecutor’s primary evidence exhibit, continues to have an impact on the trial’s observers.

“We oftentimes just see the trial and we don’t have any video of the killing,” Rashad Robinson, president of the racial justice organization Color of Change, told USA Today. “[This time] we saw the crime, and now we’re seeing the trial.”

Chauvin’s attorneys have said officers followed protocol when they arrested Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a Minneapolis food store. Police argued that he resisted arrest, which led to Chauvin handcuffing him face-down and kneeling on his neck.

Chauvin and two other Minneapolis police officers were later dismissed from the police force over Floyd’s death.

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