Testimony enters its third week in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the fired Minneapolis officer charged with the death of George Floyd. Before the jury was called into court on Monday, a judge refused a request for the jury’s defense to be further questioned and segregated in light of the fatal police who shot a driver at the nearby Brooklyn Center on Sunday, sparking protests.
“This incident last night highlights, I think, the jury’s view that a verdict in this case will have consequences,” said attorney Eric Nelson.
Judge Peter Cahill said the Brooklyn Center shooting is a “totally different case,” and said sequestering the jury could heighten their safety concerns. He said the jury will be separated once they begin their deliberations.
The verdict comes after medical experts and forensic pathologists testified about Floyd’s cause of death last week. How Floyd died was a major point of contention during the trial. Prosecutors allege he died of oxygen deprivation under the weight of officers who caught him during the May 2020 fatal arrest, while the defense alleges that the drugs he was taking in conjunction with an underlying heart condition caused a fatal heart rhythm disturbance.
On Friday, Hennepin County medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, who performed Floyd’s autopsy, that heart disease and drugs contributed to Floyd’s death, but did not directly cause it.
Baker’s testimony came after three medical experts declared for the prosecution that Floyd died of oxygen starvation – not drugs, as the defense has suggested.
Chauvin, who was seen in disturbing videos kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, is charged with second-degree murder. murder in the third degree and second degree homicide.
Chauvin pleaded not guilty. The other three officers involved are charged with complicity and are expected to be tried jointly in August.