The murder trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, is continuing today as it enters its second week.
Evidence in the trial is now expected to turn to the officer’s training, after five days of emotional testimony from eyewitnesses.
Chauvin's defense team argues that the officer did what he was trained to do and that Floyd's use of drugs and underlying health conditions caused his death. However his own colleagues and law enforcement officials have condemned the use of the knee restraint for nine minutes and 29 seconds, with veteran officer Derek Zimmerman describing it as “totally unnecessary”.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd's death, is expected to testify this week, possibly as early as Monday. “Mr. George Floyd's tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there,” Arradondo said in June.
Experts have described the prosecution's decision to call the chief to give evidence against one of his own officers as very rare and “pretty remarkable”.
