Thread by @UR_Ninja

Live Now: Derek Chauvin Trial Day 19 is starting in a moment #DerekChauvinTrial twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Court is beginning for Tuesday - currently attorneys for Maurice Hall, a witness subpoenad to testify, are in court telling the court that Mr. Hall is invoking his 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, saying he has been granted/offered no immunity

Mr. Hall will not be testifying about any activities on May 25, 2020, his lawyer tells the court.

Hall's attorney tells Judge Cahill that if he testified about any personal knowledge of George Floyd and May 25, he could face dangerous exposure to 3rd degree murder charges under "broad" Minnesota drug laws which allow anyone involved in drug preparation/distro to be charged

Judge Cahill says he will ask Eric Nelson (Chauvin's defense lawyer) to outline what areas he sought to question Maurice Hall about.

Nelson wants to ask Hall about his interactions with George Floyd in/around Cup Foods on May 25, 2020, whether Hall allegedly dealt Floyd drugs or not, what happened when they were in a vehicle together, Hall's statements to police at the scene...

Nelson's list of things he intends to ask slickly bleeds over into a recitation of incriminating-sounding claims about Hall's activity on May 25, 2020

Judge Cahill says Mr. Hall has a "legitimate 5th Amendment privilege to invoke" in regards to his alleged false statements given to police, contents of his backpack, use/sale of drugs.

Cahill says Hall can be asked about "how George Floyd appeared in the car and if he was falling asleep suddenly", Nelson claims that having Hall testify about that isn't self-incriminating

"proper invocation of his 5th amendment rights for just about everything..except for his observations [of George Floyd] from the passenger seat of the car....bc we have parallel testimony of a clerk in the store..." - Judge Cahill

Judge Cahill asks Hall's counsel if it wouldn't incriminate Mr. Hall to ask him about his observations of whether George Floyd seemed high. Keeps interrupting Mr. Hall's attorney, who is clear that any testimony from Hall at all is a danger to him

Cahill asks the state prosecution team to weigh in on the matter of Hall taking the 5th. "Our dog in the fight is a fair trial for Mr. Chauvin" - MN Asst AG Frank says he doesn't want to have the 5th invoked in front of the jury

Frank and Cahill are now debating minutiae of case law around when someone gets to plead the 5th or not.

Judge Cahill says "a small narrow topic...might be permissible" for Mr. Hall to testify to. Hall's attorney was crystal clear that he will be taking the 5th so its not clear if Cahill is considering compelling his testimony via subjecting him to contempt of court

Judge Cahill says he would like to propose Hall testify to a very limited area of events and hopes Hall can meet with his lawyers and see things Cahill's way by Thursday. "This isn't a final ruling...this is the only part that i think is not possibly a 5th amendment claim..."

"we need to tread carefully...the 5th amendment right is a broad one...everybody's got their homework assignments" - Judge Cahill

Judge takes a recess and leaves the courtroom, court expected to resume/begin when jurors arrive in ~15 mins.

Correction: his name is spelled Morries Hall

When the jury is back in Judge Peter Cahill's court (any min now) we expect to hear the rest of Minneapolis PD 5th Precinct Inspector Katie Blackwell's testimony, which began yesterday. Catch up on her testimony in yesterday's live tweet court thread:

https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1379175512497549315?s=20

Court is back in session now - we were wrong about Blackwell testifying next. The state just called another witness, Minneapolis Police Sergeant and Crisis Intervention Training Coordinator Ker Yang

Sgt. Yang is outlining his academic mental health education as well as his training at the MPD academy where he started in September 1996.

When promoted to Sgt. , Yang worked the Robbery unit for his orientation and then was assigned downtown for a while before ending up directing the dept's Crisis Intervention Training program which is hosted at the Special Operations Center

Steve Schleicher from the prosecution team is having Yang outline various scenarios of crises where officers may be expected to intervene - anxiety, intoxication, mental health episodes

Yang describes taking the CIT training course as well as sitting in while others take the course - expect the prosecution to begin honing in on specifics of this training and then evaluate Derek Chauvin's choices in handling George Floyd while detaining him

Sgt. Yang identifies Chauvin in the courtroom when asked, saying "he's got a mask on, I assume that that's him"

Schleicher has Yang outline various de-escalation trainings provided to MPD officers, Yang says professional actors are brought in to simulate people in crisis so cops can practice

Yang is now being asked about the critical decision thinking model used by Minneapolis after they adapted the model from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF for short - they are not on trial today but are always worth looking into.)

Schleicher asks Sgt. Yang to expound on how the decision system model taken from PERF informs the department’s official approach to crisis intervention

Yang tells the court that MPD crisis intervention training says "when someone needs medical attention, then we give them medical attention"

Schleicher says he has no further questions for Sgt. Yang.

Chauvin's lawyer Eric Nelson is now cross-examining Yang, going over some of the same deets re Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and the critical decision making model

Nelson just pivoted to asking Sgt. Yang about having to use force on a suspect while the public is watching and the arrest "may look bad"

Nelson asks Yang if the critical decision model is a "rapid, very dynamic model", Yang agrees. Nelson stresses that its a fluid system that could include "interactions that you are having with citizen observers..."

Nelson shows Sgt. Yang exhibit 122, which is a document of MPD Crisis Intervention Team "training materials" that Yang created

Yang corrects Nelson saying that the training materials Nelson pulled up were not the training that Chauvin went through. Nelson doesn't seem bothered and keeps asking about training for "dealing with suspects when there is a crowd of observers [being] aggressive"

Yang describes behaviors officers are trained to look for such as "standing tall...[being] agitated"

Attorneys for both sides and Judge Cahill are now in a sidebar convo w the public audio feed muted.

Judge Cahill had Nelson rephrase his Q to Sgt. Ker Yang about training "both cadets, recruits, as well as veteran officers"

"yes, i do"

Sgt. Yang describes how recruits go through a crisis de-escalation training about things like autism, but says thats different than training that "regular officers" get

(while the trainings technically different he says they are "similar")

"I have nothing to do with the 40 hour training for the veteran officer... thats the [POST board] training" - Sgt. Yang to Eric Nelson

Yang says he trains officers in "signs to look for" when observing suspects

Nelson asking Yang about whether the trainings deal with citizen observers of arrests/stops, people filming officers, whether to consider someone a threat while they observe police

Nelson asking more about "tactical decision making", "knowing that medical help was on the way", "making decisions about officer safety"

(lines of questioning to witnesses is one of the main avenues he has to influence the jury)

Nelson solicits Yang's agreement after stating that "creating time and distance for an officer is an important part of the de-escalation process...you train police officers that as that intensity of crisis increases, the risk or threat to the officer grows greater..."

Nelson asking how officers are trained to respond to signs of a person in crisis in a "variety of ways....techniques that MPD trains both veterans and recruits would be to have a confidence about them...an officer should try to appear confident in his or her actions..."

"..they should try to maintain space, they should speak slowly & softly...avoid eye contact...ultimately when a police officer is dealing w any situation they could be dealing with any number of people who are in crisis right?...the subject...people watching...another officer..."

Nelson solicits Yang agreement that what an officer "hears...which could include people threatening violence...goes into that critical thinking model as well... often that arresting situation is very tense..." Nelson ends his cross there.

Steve Schleicher back up for re-direct on Sgt. Yang, pulling ex. 276 back up - the MPD critical decision making model that Yang testified was adapted from the (private, Target corp affiliated) Police Executive Research Forum

Schleicher asks Yang to "differentiate between a small thing and big thing"

"It depends on what a big thing is and what small thing is" - Yang

Asked about someone in a medical crisis, Yang says "that would be a big thing"

"...a 17-year-old filming with a camera, would that be a big thing or a small thing?"

"A small thing."

Schleicher got in a few more quick pointed Qs about medical interventions before ending his re-direct on Sgt. Yang. Nelson now doing a re-cross, asking about how officers sometimes only provide medical help "if its safe and feasible to do so". Yang is done testifying now.

The state just called in the next witness -Johnny Mercil is a Minneapolis Police Lieutenant, currently on medical leave, joined MPD in 1996.

He went to the University of North Dakota and majored in criminal justice, graduated in 1995.

Mercil's first assignment at MPD was a patrol officer assigned to the 3rd precinct (SE Mnpls). "duties were patrolling the streets, answering 911 calls."

After that says he moved to the Community Response Team (CRT or cert team for short) which deals w "prostitution, drug dealing, gang activity" then transferred to downtown unit aka mounted patrol, rode a horse doing "crowd control" for about "a year and a half"

Then he was on downtown middle watch, then promoted to Sgt. Asked about his civil service exam to begome a Sergeant. First Sgt assignment was to the robbery unit, then juvenile unit, "then back on downtown patrol as a supervisor...[as of] about 2007, 2008 "

THEN he was back in the mounted patrol as a sergeant for a while, then was in the gang task force, then on the North side on patrol, then back downtown on community response team, then in 2017 he took his LT. exam and passed it.

When he made LT, Mercil was assigned to the use of force training unit. Schleicher asks him about his required refresher courses which includes use of force training. 2010 he became a part time use of force instructor

Schleicher asks Lt. Mercil to define "use of force" and "defensive tactics". Mercil says the terms are "interchangable... but use of force is more appropriate", calls "defensive tactics" an "older" term.

Mercil says he took martial arts in college and "fell in love with" the implications of Brazilian jiu jitsu "for law enforcement". Says it "de-emphasizes strikes" and focuses on things like "pain compliance and physical body control to get people to comply"

Mercil is asked to define pain compliance and says its a process of causing pain to someone so that they do what you want so that you will stop the pain.

Schleicher asks Mercil about his job requirements to be familiar with state law and MPD policies governing the use of force.

Asked to describe his role as LT in training division, Mercil says he was in charge of cotinuing education to make sure officers are in compliance with POST board mandates re ongoing training - documenting who attended what training, collecting alleged proof of hours at seminars

As a LT, Mercil has rank over cops at the SGT level. Says he usually deals with "officers with a sergeant overseeing"

The state enters exhibit 126 into the record (some sort of MPD training document, seems they will show it later?)

exhibit 119 is a slide deck labeled "2018 defensive tactics in service" - Schleicher has Mercil look at the second page where his name is listed as the instructor.

Schleicher shows Mercil exhibit 124 - a sign in sheet labeled "2018 in service training program group B", Mercil listed as instructor

Derek Chauvin's name is listed on that training roster. Schleicher asks Mercil if he knows Chauvin, he says yes and identifies him in the courtroom.

Mercil says he has provided these trainings to officers "hundreds of times" over the years, says the 2018 seminar example is typical of the same trainings he has given over and over

Schleicher asking Mercil about this page 4 of the training slide, asks him to describe what this slide says. Mercil just kinda reads it out loud to him

Schleicher asking about standards for “reasonable” use of force by MPD officers. Mercil again sticks to basically just reading this slide aloud, leading this observer to wonder if the PD told him to make sure to not offer extra information to the viewing public

The recitation of MPD documents has now moved on to this “use of force continuum” chart

Schleicher now asking Mercil about the standards for restraining suspects during arrest or detention. Mercil again offers almost only verbatim reading of the written slide

Schleicher shows Mercil an image of Derek Chauvin in MPD uniform kneeling on George Floyd. Asks him if that is a use of force, Mercil says yes it is. Schleicher asks Mercil about his training in "the frailty of the human body, some parts are more vulnerable than others"

Schleicher shows Mercil this slide which shows how MPD officers are educated about striking human bodies

Asked about MPD training techniques for neck restraints, Lt. Mercil says officers are trained to practice breaths to understand neck holds better. Talks about "slowing the blood flow to the brain with intent to get control of the subject"

Mercil says MPD "uses a couple of different techniques", describes several elbow and hand placement techniques used "to gain compliance"

Mercil refers to the MMA term "triangle choke" to talk about a move that can be used to restrain someone on the ground while on top of them. Says the move can render someone unconscious

Mercil is asked about this MPD policy re neck restraints

Schleicher going into more detail of when "active neck restraints" are allowed for MPD officers when dealing with "some forms of active resistance"

When a subject isn't resisting, generally no restraint is permitted, Mercil says when asked by Schleicher

Schleicher publishes exhibit 17, an image of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd. Asks Mercil if the move is an "MPD authorized restraint technique"... Mercil says "knee on the neck is a use of force that isn't unauthorized" and would "depend on the level of resistance"

Asked if he thinks Chauvin's move in the video still frame is authorized by MPD policy, Mercil answered "I would say no"

Schleicher started to get into handcuffs and other restraint methods but someone asked for a sidebar, court audio is suddenly muted for now

Judge Cahill declares a morning recess, court expected back at 11:15 AM central USA time

Court is back from break, Lt. Johnny Mercil testimony resuming. Currently Steve Schleicher (prosecution team) asking him about handcuffing procedures

Handcuffs have a double lock mechanism to minimize escapes.

Asked about “prone handcuff” technique, Mercil says officers are trained to put their knees into a shoulder “to present the hand for cuffing”

Mercil says the knee should be released “when their behavior de escalates their resistance”.

Schleicher asks him if people should always be released from the knee-in-shoulder move being cuffed, Mercil says not always.

Schleicher gets Mercil to add that once someone is cuffed and compliant it would “be an appropriate time” to end the prone handcuff position and “get them in a different position” such as “recovery position on their side, you can sit them up, you can stand them up”

“Some people have difficulty breathing when their hands are behind their back and they’re on their stomach” - Lt. Mercil

This is called “positional asphyxia”

Content Advisory: this thread and attached stream will contain repetitive descriptions and depictions of violence and death. Select “mute conversation” on this tweet’s options to hide today’s court reporting thread from your timeline.

Schleicher is asking Lt. Johnny Mercil about MPD's permitted "maximal restraint technique" and various restraint devices officers may employ "if a subject was thrashing"

"when you further restrict their ability to move, it can further restrict their ability to breathe" - Lt. Mercil

Schleicher is done with his direct exam Qs for Lt. Mercil. Eric Nelson (Derek Chauvin's lawyer paid for by the police union) is loudly shuffling through papers right by the microphone before starting his cross examination of Mercil

Nelson asks Lt. Mercil about his role in creating the "Ground Defense Program" for MPD. Mercil says the program is about 10 years old and is based on using non-striking "body control methods" as opposed to "punching or striking an individual" (Nelson's words that Mercil agreed w)

Nelson solicits Mercil's agreement with the fact that officers decisions have to be "fluid" and that actions they have to take can "be unattractive"

Nelson asking Lt. Mercil about telling if someone is "pretending or giving me some excuse not to be arrested, or is this person in some kind of crisis... ultimately in terms of an arrest that's one of the things that an officer has to ascertain"

Nelson asks Mercil if anyone ever told him "I can't breathe" during an arrest where he didn't believe them. Mercil agrees, says yes

Nelson asks Mercil if words count as "active resistance" or "passive resistance" during an arrest, Mercil says words could count as either passive or active. Active examples: threatening the officer or faking a medical crisis

Nelson says "someone who is compliant could suddenly become noncompliant...someone who is nonviolent could become violent"

(this is sort of worded as a question to Mercil but clearly Nelson is speaking to the jurors as well here)

Nelson now asking Mercil about officers having to evaluate the difference between "a happy crowd" and "an unhappy crowd". Quickly moves on to discussing the MPD use of force continuum the state showed earlier

Nelson asked Mercil if he trains officers for use of force on people believed to be on drugs, Mercil says yes, its a consideration. Nelson asks if drugs can make a person "exhibit more strength than they would have otherwise", Mercil agrees

Nelson asking more about the "ground control" approach using pressure points, body weight, pin techniques. "using the officer's body weight to efficiently control an individual"

The FBI previously interviewed Lt. Johnny Mercil for the Derek Chauvin case. Mercil says he hasn't read the transcript of his interview. Nelson asking him about what he said in the interview about the difference between different choke holds

Asked if he saw Chauvin using a "choke hold" in any videos he watched, Mercil says no.

Nelson is asking Mercil about his trainings around "neck restraints" which can render a person unconscious. Mercil tells him that it depends "on size of the person, your skill, whether they're on narcotics... an adrenaline rush"

Asked if you need to keep pressure on someone for "a long time" to knock someone out w neck restraint, Mercil says no. Asked how much pressure it takes, Mercil says "i don't know if I can answer that, it's very individual"

The state objects when Nelson asks Mercil about whether adrenaline rush "speeds up or slows down" someone regaining consciousness after a cop choked them out. Judge lets Nelson ask - Mercil says it typically takes "under 10 seconds" to render someone unconscious w this method

Nelson aks Mercil about training officers in the so-called "human factors of force" which Mercil defines as "a startled response to the officer of fear or having an adrenaline dump in your body, which affects your cognitive and physical abilities"

Nelson says officers may get adrenaline rush or "dump" as well, Mercil agrees and says its a standard part of training both for academy cadets and veteran officers. Mercil says this training is done about once a year.

Nelson asking Mercil about how MPD "trains officers under certain circumstances to hold someone until the scene is safe" and that this could include factors such as "bystanders". Nelson likely hoping these questions plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the jury.

Nelson asks about how officers are required to "render medical aid as best you can...but there are certain circumstances where...an officer has to consider whether its safe for an officer to do so"

Nelson asks a few more quick Qs about the "recovery position" after cuffing someone, whether sometimes an officer wouldn't put the arrestee or suspect in that position based on "factors" such as "partner safety, personal safety...safety of the crowd..."

Nelson asks Mercil about training MPD cops to use a knee to the back/shoulder "for handcuffing purposes or simply prone control of a subject", Mercil says "yes sir"

Nelson says this is routine training at the police academy and officers' in-service training. Mercil agrees.

Nelson published exhibit 17, a video frame showing Derek Chauvin looking at the camera as his knee appears to be on George Floyd's neck in the infamous killing video

Nelson asks Mercil about his earlier answer to the state that this was not an approved restraint, Mercil says that the knee is to be removed after restraint is successful

Nelson pulls up this MPD handcuffing instruction and asks Mercil if it shows the knee being used on the neck. Mercil says “we tell officers to use caution with the neck area”

Nelson shows Mercil a still of police body camera footage from May 25 2020 at 20:23:22 (8:23 PM central) showing officers restraining George Floyd using their knees and legs. Asks if this "appears to be across the shoulder blade to the base of the neck", Mercil says he can't tell

This is exhibit 1045 mentioned above. Chauvin defense seems to hope this image can somehow bolster claims that what was done to George Floyd was in line with MPD policy and training.

Nelson asking Lt. Mercil about specifics of this frame, similar to the last.

Another frame of the same scene pulled up by Nelson who is asking Mercil about what he sees in terms of placement of officers’ knees on Floyd’s back

Nelson solicits Mercil’s agreement w the statement that those images show a “prone hold” as opposed to a “neck restraint”

Asked by Nelson if a prone restraint could be used to hold someone "until EMS arrives", Mercil agrees with a qualifier along the lines of "as long as they still need to be controlled, yes"

Nelson is soliciting agreements from Mercil with various statements along the lines of how officers have to evaluate things in the moment without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, stuff like that

Nelson pulled up the MPD force diagram shown by the state earlier and he drew a circle on it

Nelson asks about "de-escalating use of force during certain circumstances" and officers using the "maximal restraint technique" but then later stopping to get medical services for the person being held. Nelson asks if this counts as de-escalation, Mercil says yeah.

Nelson gets Mercil to agree that using "body weight" to pin someone down "can be a de-escalating technique"

Nelson solicits Mercil's agreement with the statement that a person's physical size relative to an officer is a consideration for officer safety

Nelson got back into the critical decision making model mentioned earlier before finishing his cross-examination of Lt. Mercil. Steve Scheicher doing re-direct now (sort of the same as direct but he gets to try to counteract impressions Nelson just made on the jury via his Qs)

Schleicher asks Lt. Mercil if MPD officers have discretion to use as much force as they want, Mercil says they don't.

Schleicher goes back over MPD use of force chart, highlights portions that show how use of force is supposed to be "proportional". Gives example that physical force shouldn't be escalated in response to someone saying something annoying to an officer.

Schleicher briefly shows this exhibit 184 which shows bystander witnesses watching and filming at the scene of George Floyd’s death. Asked if cameras justify use of force or escalation Mercil says no, it doesn’t.

Asked if body weight applied to the neck and/or the back could “decrease the ability of the subject to breathe” Mercil answers “potentially”

Asked if it would not be appropriate and within training to hold someone in a position where they had difficulty breathing after they stopped resisting, Mercil says no.

Schleicher’ re-direct is done, Nelson back up to re-cross Mercil. Shows the same frame of bystanders at the scene of the killing. Nelson asks if “the words they use matter” Mercil says yes. Nelson asks if insults towards cops should be taken into account, Mercil says yes.

Schleicher quickly re-re-directs and asks Mercil that if bystanders were saying that someone couldn’t breathe and that officers should get off of them, should they take that into account? Mercil says yes. Mercil testimony done now

Court in the #DerekChauvinTrial expected to resume around 1:30 PM central USA time

Court is back after lunch now - current prosecution witness who just got sworn in is MPD Officer Nicole Mackenzie, works as Medical Support Coordinator

Asked if she knows Derek Chauvin, Officer Mackenzie says she has worked with him before when he was her FTO (Field Training Officer) for a day, identifies him in the courtroom.

Mackenzie describes her Medical Support Coordinator role as being responsible for "first aid education that all the officers receive" including cadets at academy as well as in-service for officers. She also administers a Narcan training program

Steve Schleicher (prosecution) shows Ofcr. Mackenzie an example of a document that shows an officer was recorded as attending various training classes such as CPR

This exhibit shows that Derek Chauvin took a “Heartsaver CPR” training in 2014:

Schleicher is having Mackenzie go over details of CPR and first aid trainings etc

Mackenzie asked about steps to keep someone's airway clear when giving them medical aid, checking for breathing, checking circulation

Officers are "supposed to immediately start CPR" if someone doesn't have a pulse, Officer Mackenzie tells the court

Asked if someone can breathe if they're able to talk, Mackenzie says "just because they're speaking doesn't mean they're breathing adequately"

Schleicher is done w direct on Officer Mackenzie, Nelson requests a sidebar before cross-examining, Judge has audio feed briefly silenced

Nelson (Chauvin's lawyer) is asking Mackenzie about her work history and MPD low-level medical responder (below EMT certification) training

Nelson asks about EMR training for officers' in-service classes, how that fits into POST board certification

Nelson goes over MPD policy 5-306 which outlines provision of medical care to people in police custody, asks about the "code 4" all clear signal EMTS are told to wait to get from the cops before they come in to help the wounded

MPD officers must request EMS "as soon as practical", Nelson says, reading PD docs

Nelson asking McKenzie about classes on "excited delirum" being given to officers

MacKenzie calls issues like excite delirium and/or being on drugs as a "factor" MPD officers have to consider. Talks about "superhuman strength, people lifting things they wouldn't be able to lift"

Nelson asks about how EMTs could decide to to "grab and go" on a patient due to a hostile crowd in an area they get called to, solicits MacKenzie's statement that its harder to provide aid with an angry crowd nearby, "its difficult to focus on the one thing in front of you"

Nelson is done cross-examining Officer MacKenzie. Steve Schleicher does a re-direct, asks if officers know to expect to render medical aid in less than ideal situations. "You're in the environment as you find it". Aske to define a hostile crowd, she says "being verbally abusive"

Asked if an onlooking crowd excuses an officer from having to give medical aid, MacKenzie says only if the crowd was physically stopping the officer from giving aid

Officer MacKenzie is now done testifying, court is on a ten min break

The prosecution calls its next prosecution witness in the #DerekChauvinTrial - Los Angeles Police Sergeant Jody Stiger, a retained expert for the state. Smiles and laughs and says he is "on vacation", implying that testifying in this murder trial is some sort of perk for him.

Stiger used to work undercover on drug cases busting Los Angeles high school students where they studied.

Stiger also says he used to work on homicides in a "dangerous area" in LA and later went on to join LAPD's (notoriously controversial) gang intelligence unit

Stiger later ended up assigned to "in-service tactics" training work for LAPD by the 2000s. Says he developed a 4-day course covering de-escalation, "firearms manipulation", "basic patrol tactics and arrest control techniques." Promoted to Sergeant after that

From 2003-2007 Stiger was on a board within LAPD that issued recommendations to the chief of police and police commission, based on reviewing use of force by officers.

Stiger says becoming a LAPD Sgt required some college credits, passing a test and getting evaluated. Was later assigned to be a patrol field sergeant in Skid Row. Duties included "supervising officers on a specific watch, anywhere from 10-20 officers on a watch"

Stiger was later assigned to a Safer Cities initiative "focused on the homeless problem"

Schleicher asks Stiger to talk about how certain areas of LA are "dangerous"

Stiger later found himself assigned to being a tactics instructor, says this included de-escalation training as well as "force options", handgun instructor training, leadership courses, trainings w FBI.

Stiger says his "main focus was de-escalation" but mostly mentions "techniques such as vehicle stops... firearms manipulation"

Asked what subjects he taught, Stiger says "we taught all the subjects."

Asked to etimate how many use-of-force reviews he's done in his career, Stiger estimates about 2,500. Says "yes" when asked if he has found use of force to be unreasonable but interestingly doesn't provide a number for this (Schleicher also didn't ask him for a number)

Stiger is a member of "police organizations that involve tactical managers", claims to not remember the names of any of these organizations.

Stiger has assisted the University of California's office of the president as well as other local and campus PDs in California, he tells the court.

Schleicher finally getting to the meat of. thematter, asking Stiger about reviewing videos of the George Floyd killing.

Said he charges a flat fee of $10,000 plus a $2,950 trial fee, meaning he was paid $12,950 total for his services.

Stiger says he's reviewed basically all video and reports and documents, police manuals etc associated with the George Floyd killing.

Schleicher asks Stiger, based on his review of materials in the Chauvin case as well as his own career experience, if he reached an opinion about Derek Chauvin's use of force towards George Floyd. Stiger says that yes he has formed an opinion.

Schleicher asks Stiger to explain his methodology to the jury, so he rattles off an elevator pitch about case law and the seriousness of the crime etc etc

"My opinion was that the force was excessive" - Stiger's take on reviewing evidence of Derek Chauvin's actions on May 25, 2020

Stiger describes George Floyd’s alleged crime of passing a fake $20 bill as a “lower level” offense that doesn’t make Chauvin’s use of force reasonable

The former MPD officers “should have slowed down or stopped” their use of force on George Floyd when wasn’t resisting, Stiger testifies

Stiger says he tried to evaluate the MPD officers’ treatment of a Floyd based on a “reasonable officer’s perspective” as well as a review of MPD policy documents.

Schleicher is walking Stiger through his descriptions of what he saw when he watched the involved ex-MPD officers' body camera videos, which have already been played repeatedly at trial - some of the footage likely about to get played again. CONTENT ADVISORY for murder video

Schleicher is now playing a portion of (former) MPD Officer Kueng's body camera footage that shows George Floyd pleading with officers saying he can't breathe as they are manhandling him by the door the their squad car.

More of the Kueng BWC footage is being played in court now, showing Floyd being restrained on the ground and crying out. Thankfully it was paused again after a few secs - jurors and everyone else watching the trial have been repeatedly subjected to this traumatic video

Stiger says. that prior to officers getting Floyd into the prone position, Floyd had tried to resist in his opinion "by kicking his leg...kicked their arms away in an attempt to possibly break free from the officers' grasp..."

Stiger says other than that one moment he saw nothing constituting aggression or resistance on Floyd's part.

After a sidebar, Judge Cahill suddenly announces court is done for the day. Should resume at 9:15 central USA time tomorrow. Thanks for following along with us