Thread by @AnaViLastra

Court will start earlier, but not for witness testimony. At 8:30 a.m., Judge Cahill will hear the motion on Morries Hall's invocation of his 5th Amendment against self-incrimination. Hall was in George Floyd's car on May 25, 2020. #DerekChauvinTrial

kstp.com/news/state-vs-…

Witness testimony will continue after this AM's hearing.

We heard from Chief Arradondo and Inspector Katie Blackwell on use of force policy/procedures, specifically on neck restraints. #DerekChauvinTrial

Watch Live:

Morries Hall is appearing via Zoom. His attorney is in person. #DerekChauvinTrial

"Your Honor, at this point in time Mr Hall has no immunity.
He has been provided no immunity, no protection for his testimony whatsoever. And because of that Mr. Hall is invoking his fifth amendment privilege against self incrimination." #DerekChauvinTrial

Hall's attorney is now identifying areas that he might be questioned about.

The argument is based on the concern for future prosecution for 3rd degree murder because, "There's an allegation here that Mr. Floyd ingested a controlled substance as police were removing..."

Eric Nelson is now listing questions he intends to ask Morries Hall. Q's include Hall's interactions with GF, whether he provided controlled substances, why he left MN after the incident... #DerekChauvinTrial

Cahill: "It seems like just about everything that you want to ask him...he would have a legitimate right to invoke his 5th Amend. rights against compelled self incrimination & that being how GF appeared when he was back in the car & falling asleep suddenly." #DerekChauvinTrial

I should clarify the last tweet. Judge Cahill says questions about how George Floyd appeared in the car and if he fell asleep suddenly would not incriminate himself.

Morries Hall's attorney disagrees. #DerekChauvinTrial

Cahill: The video of him sitting next to George Floyd does not incriminate him, or that has has not subjected him to criminal liability, at least yet. So you're saying that...
Attorney: That's the key word judge. Yet. Yet.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Matthew Frank is now presenting his concerns about the invocation of 5th Amendment rights.

"I don't know how we put on Mr. Hall to testify and ask him one question and then let him leave without having the ability to pursue as we normally would in a trial..." #DerekChauvinTrial

Judge Cahill asks Eric Nelson to draft a questionnaire and with the expected answers by Thursday. Morries Hall and his attorney would go through them outside of the jury & then Cahill will make a ruling.

Cahill: "We need to tread carefully." #DerekChauvinTrial

In recess now. They'll bring the jury to continue witness testimony soon.

Going back to MH attorney's concern w/3rd degree murder. She called the statute "broad." The law doesn't only target ppl who sell drugs.

@ryanraiche examined the decades old law that allows prosecutors to target people connected to drug overdoses.
kstp.com/news/addiction…

First witness called by the state is MPD Sgt. Ker Yang. He's the crisis prevention training coordinator.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Steve Schleicher is asking Sgt. Yang to go through his career in MPD, education, etc. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks Yang to identify Derek Chauvin in court. Yang says he doesn't know Chauvin personally, but recognizes him from training. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher has asked Yang about crisis intervention training. He's now asking about the Critical Decision Making Model that was brought up yesterday during Arradondo & Blackwell's testimony. #DerekChauvinTrial

Yang: What you see in the middle circle are voice, neutrality, respect and trust. Those are the pillars of procedural justice.

Yesterday's testimony was centered on MPD policy & procedure, de-escalation, use of force and how they all work together.

So far, that's appears to be the same pattern of questioning with Sgt. Yang. Again, he oversees crisis intervention training. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher just wrapped up.

Eric Nelson will now cross examine.

N: Now, are there situations in your own experience where you've had to use force on someone, and other people observing the use of force, don't like what you're doing.
Y: Yes sir.
#DerekChauvinTrial

N: In situations where citizens or bystanders start to congregate & watch what the police are doing. You would agree that could potentially become a crisis for those observers?
Y: Potentially, yes.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson is now showing Yang training materials. It's only on Yang's screen.

Yang clarifies that it's training he created to "really target the recruit and cadet academies" and says it's separate from the training Chauvin went through.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher just called for a sidebar. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson had starting asking Sgt. Yang about the behaviors that MPD officers are trained to watch for from observers or suspects.

I believe Schleicher objected before asking for a sidebar. #DerekChauvinTrial

Cahill tells Nelson to rephrase.

Nelson asks Sgt. Yang if he trains cadets, recruits and veteran officers. Yang says yes.

Yang: Are you talking about recruit training, or the veteran officer? Are you referring to the 40 hour or 24 hours training. I have nothing to do with a 40 hour training for veteran officer.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks if Yang trains officers in the critical decision making model for the totality of the circumstances.

Clarifies that this includes citizen bystanders, if they're recording and whether citizens "pose a threat or a risk." #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: It's not just one small thing that you're focused only on, the subject that you're arresting, you're taking in a lot of information and processing it all kind of simultaneously through this critical decision making model. Agreed?

Yang: Agreed. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: And so, the crisis intervention policy actually defines crisis as having a trajectory. Correct?
Yang: Yes sir.
N: And that the trajectory can increase in its severity over time.
Y: Yes, sir.

#DerekChauvinTrial

N: Some of the techniques that Minneapolis Police Department trains veterans, and recruits, would be to have confidence about them. Right?
Y: Confidence about them? Yes. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher is back up to redirect.

Sgt. Yang is excused. State will call its next witness.

Lt. Johnny Mercil is now testifying. He's explaining his job background, education, career in MPD. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil was a part time use of force instructor in 2010 before going to the training unit full time as a lieutenant. He attended courses designed for trainers and also started Brazilian JiuJitsu. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil is described Brazilian JiuJitsu. He says it's focused on leverage, body control.

"True Brazilian jujitsu there aren't strikes, no punching or kicking. It's using your body weight, kind of like wrestling and joint locks, manipulation, neck restraints..." #ChauvinTrial

Mercil helped develop and approve the training curriculum. Schleicher is currently showing him documents used in that training. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher: Do you see the name Derek Chauvin on this training roster?
Mercil: Yes, sir.

Schleicher then asks Mercil to point out & describe what Chauvin is wearing.
#DerekChauvinTrial

The highlighted name is Derek Chauvin which shows he attended this training.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks Mercil to describe some of the slides in this 2018 Defensive Tactics In-Service training, starting with purpose/policy. Mercil says sanctity of life is the cornerstone of use of force policies.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil reads the use of force definitions from this slide.

S: And when applying force/restraint, restraint has to be reasonable. Correct?
M: Correct.
S: And it has to be reasonable at the time it starts and stops.
M: Correct.
#DerekChauvinTrial

S: And you said that you want to use the least amount of force necessary.
M: Yes.
S:Why is that?
M: Because if you can use the least amount of, a lower level of force to meet your objectives. It's safer and better for everybody involved. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil says this is widely described as the use of force continuum.

Sleicher circles the upper right corner and asks what can be used in "active aggression." Mercil says up to deadly force. He then asks about the inverse. #DerekChauvinTrial

S: Is it fair to say when you're using force, people can get hurt?
M: Yes sir.
S: The subject can get hurt, the officer can get hurt.
M: Yes sir.
S: Is that one of the reasons why it's better to use lesser amounts of force?
M: Yes sir. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil says "the minimum amount of force that you need to accomplish the objective of arresting and detaining somebody is what you should use." #DerekChauvinTrial

TW: Graphic photo could be traumatic for people.

Schleicher asks Mercil if the photo showing Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd is a use of force. Mercil confirms it is. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks if the areas marked in red are more prone to more serious injury. Mercil confirms.

Schleicher asks, "so for example, the neck?"
Mercil: Yes. #DerekChauvinTrial

Lt. Mercil demonstrates with his hands what a neck restraint is and how it's used. Mercil demonstrated with his arms, but says it can be used with a leg. He says they may show it to younger officers, but they don't train on it. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil says when using a leg for a neck restraint, the knee creates a gap to protect the throat. The person leg is on one side and the subjects arm is on the other side, choking from both sides of the neck. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher: What level of subject activity would be required to use an unconscious neck restraint, according to this chart?
Mercil: It's in the red area so active aggression. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks if Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck is an MPD trained neck restraint. He brings up the photo exhibit.

Mercil says no. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson just called for a sidebar as Schleicher asked Mercil about proper handcuffing techniques.

Now taking a morning break. Back at 11:15 a.m.

Lt. Johnny Mercil is not the first MPD officer to testify against the technique used by Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. Chief Arradondo, Inspector Blackwell, Lt. Zimmerman all testified to it over the last few days. #DerekChauvinTrial

Sgt. David Pleoger testified last week that the initial description was a medical emergency. He said Chauvin later disclosed the use of force, but not the length of time.

Regardless of it being appropriate, the Chief testified a supervisor should've been alerted bc of the risk

Chauvin’s initial description appears to follow a pattern 5 INVESTIGATES has been tracking for nearly a year, in which MPD officers have been accused of being misleading or untruthful about their use of force.
Story by @ryanraiche
kstp.com/news/testimony…

Lt. Mercil is back now answering questions about handcuffing procedure, prone, recovery positioning. #DerekChauvinTrial

Mercil describes the maximal restraint technique and the use of the Hobble restraint device.

M: And what that does is it bends their legs so that their legs are no longer a threat to kick. You kind of put their legs at about a 90 degree angle. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks why an officer needs to put a subject in the recovery position after placing them in the MRT.

Lt. Mercil: Because when you further restrict their ability to move it can further restrict their ability to breathe. #DerekChauvinTrial

*Deleted previous tweet to edit Mercil's quote.*

Schleicher is done. Nelson will now cross examine. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks about the ground defense program that Mercil helped develop & introduced roughly 10 years ago.

N: And that's using different like jujitsu moves or different body control methods, versus punching or striking an individual, right?
S: That's correct. #DerekChauvinTrial

N: Sometimes officers have to do things that are unattractive to other people.
M: Correct.
N: You would agree that being a police officer is a relatively dangerous job.
M: Yes, sir.
N: You yourself in the course of your career have had to use force...
M: Yes sir.

Nelson: Sir, would you say you've had people say I can't breathe.
Mercil: Yes sir. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: That somebody who is violent and one second, becomes compliant, could become violent again. You've experienced that yourself.
Mercil: I have. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks Mercil if he trains officers to take multiple factors into consideration, including partner safety, crowds, and distinguish the difference between a crowd and an angry crowd. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: So, one person against three people, is that a factor that officers would consider for the continued use of force?
Mercil: Yes sir.

Nelson then asks about use of force on someone under the influence and if that can cause someone to have increased strength. #ChauvinTrial

The FBI interviewed Mercil about this case. Nelson is now asking questions based off of that transcript. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks Mercil if a chokehold is considered lethal force because it blocks the trachea or the airway from the front.

Then demonstrates that "it's what you would kind of think of as almost strangulation putting your hands around someone's neck..." #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson then followed up and asked if Mercil saw video of the incident.

N: At any point did you see officer Chauvin use a choke hold?
M: In this case, no sir. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks if an adrenaline surge affects the speed of the neck restraint.

Mercil: The higher your blood rate or your respiration and heart rate is, generally the faster the neck restraint affects somebody. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: And how long, based on your training and experiences, typically takes to render a person unconscious?
Mercil: In my experience, under 10 seconds. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asked Mercil about circumstances that an officer can continue to use a neck restraint.

However, in response to waiting for EMS to arrive, Mercil said,"I don't know that I would go that far." #DerekChauvinTrial

N: There are circumstances where you've been fighting with a person, and you've gotten them handcuffed and you have to decide is it worth the risk to take these handcuffs off to give this person medical?
M: Yes sir. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: Again, there would be circumstances, you can envision circumstances where you would not put a person into the recovery position correct.
Mercil hesitated for a second before saying, Yes sir. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks if "officers are specifically trained to put a knee across the shoulder blade of the suspect" when handcuffing someone.

Mercil says it is trained, but used situationally. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asksMercil about the series of questions about whether this is appears to be a trained MPD neck restraint. Then says to Mercil that he "hedged" a bit saying "maybe some other training, perhaps."Mercil says body weight control. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson brings up this graphic and asks Mercil to explain the positioning.

N: If that person were to be handcuffed and circumstances dictated the officer would be permitted to continue to hold his knee...
N: Yes...we've cautioned officers be mindful the neck area and shoulders.

Nelson is showing Mercil a couple of exhibits on his screen. He's asking questions based off of those exhibits. No one else can see them. #DerekChauvinTrial

N: Based on your observation of this photograph, it appears that the shin is coming from the top of the shoulder, across the shoulder blade. Correct?
M: Yes sir.
N: And it appears to be at an angle pointed in towards the squad car?
M: Correct. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson calls up this exhibit and essentially asks Mercil the same questions about knee positioning on Floyd. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: Does this appear to be a neck restraint?
Mercil: No sir.
Nelson: Does this appear to be a prone hold an officer might apply?
Mercil: Yes.
#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: Have you ever been trained, or trained others to say that if a person can talk, they can breathe?
Mercil: It's been said yes. #DerekChauvinTrial

N: You would agree that basically the use of force in any circumstance is incredibly dependent upon the situation. M: Yes sir.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher is now following up with Lt. Mercil.

S: Force is always subject to review?
M: Yes sir.
S: Review is always going to be after the fact. Right. M: That's correct.
S: And the force that's used, reviewed, must be reasonable.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks that the fact bystanders shown below had camera phones would not justify an increased use of force.

Mercil says "just the camera, no." #DerekChauvinTrial

S: And once the subject is no longer resistant it's inappropriate to hold them in a position where you're draping your knee across their back or neck?
M: I would say it's time to de-escalate force. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson now asks Mercil if it appears the man in blue is holding the man in black back. Mercil says that's what it appears to show. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson used graphic language (I'd slap the f*** out of you) to ask if that could alarm officers.

Mercile said yes.

Schleicher came back & asked, if they say "get off you're killing him" officers should consider that.

Mercile said, potentially yes. #DerekChauvinTrial

Court should be back soon with the state's next witness. #DerekChauvinTrial

Watch live:

Nicole Mckenzie is the medical support coordinator at MPD. #DerekChauvinTrial

Officer McKenzie says Derek Chauvin was a fill-in FTO when her FTO was out. Also knows him from training. #DerekChauvinTrial

McKenzie trains recruits, cadets and current officers on first aid and the use of Narcan.

She says POST board requires officers to have an Emergency Medical Responder certification.
#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher is showing McKenzie Derek Chauvin's CPR certification cards. This one is from 2014-2016. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks McKenzie about MPD policy on rendering aid. She says calling for EMS and medical aid based on that officer's training. She says officers have to do both if it's a critical medical need. #DerekChauvinTrial

McKenzie says they use Dumb and Dumber as a lighthearted way to get people more engaged on medical aid training. #DerekChauvinTrial

McKenzie says Tactical Combat Casualty Care is "basically rendering aid for more traumatic injuries." #DerekChauvinTrial

Note: It's Officer MacKenzie. I misspelled her name even though I logged it as she spelled it... #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher is still walking MacKenzie through with various slides on CPR training. #DerekChauvinTrial

MacKenzie says checking the carotid pulse is the most important, but there are multiple places to check for a pulse. She says if no pulse is detected, CPR must be started immediately. #DerekChauvinTrial

Sleicher: You train officers that if the person can talk means that they can breathe?
MacKenzie: No sir...somebody could be in respiratory distress and still be able to verbalize it just because they're speaking doesn't mean they're breathing adequately... #DerekChauvinTrial

Sleicher: When is the officer supposed to stop CPR?
MacKenzie: When you've been relieved by somebody w/ a higher level of training, or maybe a feeling some obvious signs of death, or...if you were absolutely just physically exhausted. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher wraps up. That was maybe 20 minutes of testimony.

Eric Nelson asks for a moment. Audio is cut out, but he was looking at his computer before getting up. He's now at the lectern for cross examination. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks if police officer EMR training is a lower level...MacKenzie says it's lower than a paramedic's training level.

MacKenzie was also an EMT. #DerekChauvinTrial

MacKenzie says EMR certification is required by the POST board. It's a 40 hour class.

Nelson has been asking about agonal breathing which MacKenzie says it's not effective breathing and often seen in someone who is unresponsive. She says it's basically the brains last ditch effort in a critical situation.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson is now asking about MacKenzie training officers on Narcan and if she has experienced people who have taken multiple drugs.

Schleicher objected & asked for a sidebar.
#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks MacKenzie to describe what a speedball (upper & downer) is and if it has become more common. She says yes.

He's now showing an image of people essentially slumped over and asks if it's consistent with what someone would see overdosing on opiates.
#DerekChauvinTrial

This slide is up, Nelson asks "And so, even fentanyl, even in very small doses can be fatal, would that be accurate?" Schleicher objects, Nelson attempts to rephrase, but they continue to a sidebar. #DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson asks about excited delirium and if officers are taught to recognize it.

MacKenzie describes it as having a "wide variety of things you might see in the person or rather bizarre behavior" such as hypothermia, agitation, superhuman strength, elevated HR, lack of pain.

MacKenzie: I know it sounds unreasonable, but bystanders do occasionally attack EMS crews. So sometimes just getting out of the situation is kind of the best way to defuse it.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Nelson: And so it, does it make it more difficult to assess a patient?
MacKenzie: It does.
N: Make it more likely that you may miss signs that a patient is experiencing something? And so the distraction, can actually harm the potential care of the patients.
M: Potentially.

So Judge Cahill just came back saying they "all need to stay well" and reassures jurors they'll have another short break.

I was reading the pool reporter's notes earlier and they say it appeared one of the jurors may have been asleep earlier. #DerekChauvinTrial

State calls their first expert witness, Sgt. Jody Stiger w/the Los Angeles Police Dept.

Stiger says he's on vacation right now. #DerekChauvinTrial

So far everyone the state has called has been involved in the case or a member of the Minneapolis Police Department. #DerekChauvinTrial

Like he has with previous witnesses, Schleicher is asking questions about Stiger's career path, education, etc. #DerekChauvinTrial

Stiger testifies that he's done approx. 2,500 use of force reviews in his career. #DerekChauvinTrial

Stiger does charge a fee for his services. He has a flat feet of $10,000 and an additional fee for the trial. Stiger reviewed all body worn camera videos, cell phone videos, training materials prior to testifying today. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asked Stiger up front about the service fees to disclose this to jurors.

Stiger says he's reached an opinion to the use of force in this case and then briefly explains his methodology.
#DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher asks what his opinion about what happened on May 25, 2020.

Stiger says "My opinion was that the force was excessive." #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher: Can you describe what it is you see here.
Stiger: I see an officer with his knee on the neck of Mr. Floyd.
Schleicher: Is this a form of force.
Stiger: Yes. #DerekChauvinTrial

Stiger acknowledges that initially George Floyd was resisting, but says based on his review, the officers should have de-escalated once they got him to the ground. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher is now asking Stiger about the video and to describe what he remembers from those videos showing what happened on May 25, 2020. #DerekChavinTrial

Schleicher asked Stiger about Floyd saying he had anxiety, but Nelson objected. Schleicher rephrased and Stiger answered as follows: numerous times he had stated that he was afraid, he had had COVID before and he couldn't breathe, and he had anxiety and claustrophobic.

TW: They're going to play a segment of Officer Keung's body worn camera. So this might be disturbing for folks to see. #DerekChauvinTrial

Schleicher: And what did you hear Mr. Floyd say after he was initially brought to his knees?
Stiger: I believe he said thank you.

#DerekChauvinTrial

Stiger says he saw Floyd kick his legs when officers had him in the prone position, but that he didn't see any other "active aggression behavior." #DerekChauvinTrial

Exhibit 200 shows the use of the Hobble restraint.

Stiger says it's typically used when someone is "actively aggressive toward police." Now noting that the person is in the side recovery position to help them breathe better.

#DerekChauvinTrial

They're now going to start playing Keung's body camera again. At this point, Floyd is on the ground and handcuffed. #DerekChauvinTrial

They note that the Hobble was ultimately not used in this case. Schleicher asks what this might show.

Stiger: Based on my review, I would probably believe that they felt that he was starting to comply and his aggression was starting to cease. #DerekChauvinTrial

After Schleicher asks for a short sidebar, Judge Cahill announces they'll break for the day. Will reconvene at 9:15 a.m.

#DerekChauvinTrial

I'm looking forward to reading the pool reporter's notes on this moment, because it felt abrupt from my end. #DerekChauvinTrial

Disappointing notes from the pool reporter.

"Court ended abruptly and somewhat mysteriously about an hour earlier than expected." #DerekChauvinTrial

*Disappointing because the pool reporter also doesn't know

#DerekChauvinTrial

According to the pool reporter, Rodney Floyd (Floyd's brother) said "that was very, very hard" when the state played BWC video. Said his brother's words in the video displaced his memory of their last conversation, which was about their mother. #ChauvinTrial