Minnesota prosecutors on Tuesday accused the defense team of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of trying to “tarnish” George Floyd’s reputation in a dispute over whether evidence of Floyd’s arrest in 2019 could be included in the process. judgment.
Before continuing the jury selection, both sides deliberated on the relevance of the 2019 prison, when police officers discovered the pills and Floyd’s behavior prompted paramedics to be called. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who watched the video from the incident police camera, questioned how it related to Floyd’s arrest a year later, in May 2020, when Chauvin knelt on the back of his neck for several minutes.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, argued that in both cases Floyd ignored police orders, put something in his mouth and had to be physically removed from a vehicle. In 2019, several opioid pills were found, along with cocaine.
Paramedics told Floyd that his blood pressure was so high that he was at risk for a heart attack or stroke after swallowing seven or eight pills and needed to be examined in a hospital. Nelson argued that it shows that Floyd knew that taking drugs in May 2020 could result in his hospitalization, rather than his incarceration.
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“There are so many other similarities between these two incidents, including police officers who believe that Floyd is drugged,” said Nelson. “The similarities are incredible. It’s exactly the same behavior in two incidents that is almost exactly a year apart.”
But Minnesota’s assistant attorney general, Matthew Frank, lamented “the defense’s desperation to defame Mr. Floyd’s character, to show that what he fought against, an opioid addiction like so many Americans, is really evidence of bad character”.
What appeared to be a residue of pills chewed on the back of the police vehicle Floyd was in during his arrest in May 2020, has since tested positive for methamphetamine, possible traces of fentanyl and Floyd’s DNA, Nelson told the judge, pointing out that the defense requested that the vehicle be searched a second time in January 2021 when it saw photos of the crime scene that suggested the presence of drugs.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) searched the Minneapolis police vehicle and Floyd’s vehicle present during the May 2020 incident twice – once directly after his death when the vehicle was first processed and again in January 2021. BCA found no signs of drugs in the first survey.
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“It’s kind of amazing that an ‘extensive’ survey was not done until January 2021,” said Cahill.
Frank argued that if the defense wants to use the 2019 incident to show that Floyd took drugs, this is not necessary because the toxicology report already shows that the drugs were present in his system. The defense wanted to use the 2019 arrest evidence to oppose the prosecution’s plans to use the testimony of a forensic psychiatrist to argue that Floyd’s behavior was consistent with anxiety and claustrophobia.
In the footage from the 2019 prison body camera, Floyd can be heard asking for his “mommy”, what he could be heard doing again in the viral viewer video in 2020, showing Chauvin with his knee pressed to Floyd’s neck for several minutes . In 2019, Floyd never claimed to have claustrophobia when placed in the back of a police vehicle, but in 2020, yes, according to Nelson.
Cahill did not announce a decision on whether to allow 2019 evidence to be included in the trial. The judge also said he would not address the request for the defense to continue on the trial date until Wednesday.
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Nelson presented a Washington Post article to the court for review on Tuesday citing an anonymous Minneapolis official who said the city council only moved forward with the $ 27 million settlement in the federal civil lawsuit filed by the Floyd family after consulting Hennepin County Judge Toddrick Barnette, who reportedly gave them approval to proceed, even though the jury selection was taking place at Chauvin’s trial. Cahill questioned whether the article was accurate, but said he would review the matter tonight.
Cahill said that on Wednesday he would re-interview the seven jurors seated before the news of the deal was released to determine whether they could continue to serve. These interviews should be conducted via Zoom only by the judge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.