MINNEAPOLIS — The Derek Chauvin murder trial resumes Wednesday with a second day of testimony in the defense's case, which is trying to raise enough doubt for jurors to acquit the fired Minneapolis police officer in the death of George Floyd.
Before testimony started Wednesday, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill ruled that a friend who was with Floyd at the time of his arrest can refuse to testify. Morries L. Hall, 42, invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination and told the judge that he fears being charged with serious crimes should he answer questions from the defense or prosecution.
"I fearful of criminal charges going forward," Hall said while standing at the podium usually reserved for attorneys. "I [also] have open charges that's not settled yet." His attorney told the court last week that Hall would open himself up to third-degree murder charges in connection with Floyd's death if he were to testify.
Cahill said, "I'm finding that he has a complete Fifth Amendment privilege here" and then quashed the subpoena, a ruling that was a defeat for the defense's contention that fentanyl and methamphetamine played a role in Floyd's death.
Hall is suspected of being a provider of illicit drugs to Floyd over an extended period of time. Floyd's girlfriend testified earlier that Hall supplied Floyd with drugs sometime in the month of Floyd's death.
On Tuesday, the first day defense attorney Eric Nelson presented his case in Hennepin County District Court, a longtime police instructor testified that Chauvin was justified in kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes because he resisted arrest and struggled with officers at 38th and Chicago.
Barry Brodd, a use-of-force expert hired by Chauvin's defense, told the court that placing a suspect stomach-down on the pavement is a "control technique" and not use of force because it does not cause pain. He called the position "prone control" while prosecutors have repeatedly called it "prone restraint."
"I felt that Derek Chauvin was justified and acting with objective reasonableness following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement in his interactions with Mr. Floyd," Brodd said.
The former Santa Rosa, California, police officer, who is now a consultant on use of force and other law enforcement tactics, was among five witnesses who testified as the first day of Chauvin's defense began calling witnesses in the trial now entering its sixth week dating back to jury selection.
Brodd buttressed several defense strategies by testifying that officers must take the totality of the circumstances into consideration when using force, that a crowd of bystanders posed a potential threat to officers, and that compliant suspects can suddenly become noncompliant and dangerous.
"I can't imagine how many times I've been exposed to personally or seen other officers dealing with a traffic stop or jaywalking or some minor offense and they end up in a fight for their life because of the conduct of the individual," said Brodd, who retired as a police officer in 2004.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Floyd last spring. Three other fired officers who assisted in Floyd's arrest — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are scheduled to be tried in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
Cahill said this week that attorneys' closing arguments could come as soon as Monday before jurors are sequestered for deliberations.
During cross-examination Tuesday from prosecutor Steve Schleicher, Brodd made statements that could be favorable to the prosecution. Brodd testified that a suspect's large stature or drug use were not automatic grounds to use force, that several bystanders at 38th and Chicago did not appear threatening, and that Chauvin verbally acknowledged Floyd when he complained of experiencing pain in his neck and stomach.
Brodd also pointed out that Floyd was even "resting comfortably" in one moment on the pavement with three officers restraining him, an observation that had not been made during any of the previous 11 days of testimony by witnesses, members of law enforcement or experts in medicine or police training.
"Based on your view of the defendant kneeling on Mr. Floyd ... the defendant did not alter the level of force that he was using on Mr. Floyd, did he?" Schleicher asked.
"No," responded.
Schleicher: "Even though Mr. Floyd had become as you put, at this point, compliant, fair?"
Brodd: "More compliant, yes."
Schleicher: "Well, what part of this is not compliant?"
Brodd: "So I see his arm position in the picture that's posted, that a compliant person would have both their hands in the small of their back and just be resting comfortably, vs. like he's still moving around."
Schleicher: "Did you say resting comfortably?"
Brodd: "Or laying comfortably."
Schleicher: "Resting comfortably on the pavement?"
Brodd is the defense's key use-of-force witness aimed at countering the testimony of several prosecution witnesses, including Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who previously told jurors that Chauvin used excessive force and an unsanctioned maneuver when he knelt on Floyd's neck.
Nelson has argued that Floyd more likely died of a drug overdose and chronic health problems, including heart disease, than from anything his client did on May 25.
The county medical examiner ruled Floyd died from "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression." The medical examiner also listed hardening and thickening of the artery walls, heart disease and drug use as "other significant conditions." Fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in Floyd's system at the time of his death.
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(Star Tribune staff writers Rochelle Olson and Chao Xiong contributed to this report.)
