We are #live for the 23rd day of the #DerekChauvinTrial. Today is the beginning of the 3rd week of witness testimony. twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
The court is going through some motions about possible witness testimony. Right now one of the state attorney's, Schleicher, is asking for an expert to come in and decipher who said what in the videos.
Nelson is objecting to the witness because he thinks the jury should be able to figure that out for themselves. The judge agrees with Nelson by saying that the video speaks for itself.
The state was aiming to show that George Floyd did not say "I ate too many drugs" as the defense was attempting to prove from one of the body-worn camera's footage.
Nelson is now offering arguments for why the defense wants Morries Hall to testify. Hall was with Floyd on May 25, 2020 in the passenger seat of Floyd's car and went into Cup Foods with him.
Nelson is saying that Chauvin should have the right to present his case fully. He is wondering why the state is not offering Hall immunity for testifying. Hall has pleaded the 5th and does not want to testify.
In their case to defend Chauvin during Chauvin's trial, the defense has continued to attempt to show Floyd's behavior on May 25, which is why they want Hall to testify.
Nelson is arguing that the state should offer immunity. He states again how the defendant has the right to present a full defense.
Nelson says how Hall and the other passenger in Floyd's vehicle on May 25, saw Floyd falling asleep. The defense is continuing to try and show that Floyd's drug-use caused his death.
Frank (attorney for the state) expresses how the state thinks Hall's testimony would be unreliable.
Nelson is requesting sequestration of the jury because of the events last night due to the police killing of #DaunteWright. Apparently one of the jurors lives in Brooklyn Center, where the incident happened.
Nelson thinks the jury should first be voir dired (questioned) about if they saw anything about last night. He again says he believes the jury should be sequestered.
Schleicher argues that sequestration is not necessary because it was a different police department in a different area of MN. He also doesn't think a voir dire is necessary.
Schleicher also argues that ordering the jury to avoid all media is not realistic and could end up ruling juror-misconduct. He argues that there would need to be specific rules about what types of media, etc.
The judge rules against sequestration and voir dire.
Judge Cahill just said that closing statements are expected to happen next Monday, April 19. The jury is being brought in.
There is a short break. Unclear how long.
The first witness on the stand today is Dr. Jonathan Rich, he is a cardiologist. Jerry Blackwell for the prosecution is questioning him.
Rich goes over his training and education. He did a residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He also did a cardiology fellowship.
Rich is board-certified for heart disease and heart failure specific to heart transplant.
Rich does clinical work (patient care), he teaches, and has also done clinical research for about 20 years.
He has experience measuring the pressure of hearts and lungs.
One of the most important parts of his job is figuring out what's wrong with his patient, and if they die, he figures out how they died.
Blackwell is asking if Rich has experience with his patients dying, he says it happens sometimes with patients and research participants.
He also has experience with patients who have breathing or lung deficiencies; he needs to put patients on ventilators sometimes.
Rich shares that he works closely with cardiopulmonary pathologists.
Rich explains how he assesses a patient. He looks at past tests and considers new tests. He says how some of his patients have been referred to him.
Blackwell asks how Rich got involved with the case. Rich says he believed he could make a meaningful impact in his field by participating.
Dr. Rich's opinion on Floyd's death is that he died from a cardiopulmonary arrest due to low oxygen caused by the restraint he was in.
He watched all the video footage and received other evidence to reach his professional and medical conclusion.
Rich is explaining how the heart works. He says how the left side of the heart pumps the oxygen-rich blood to the whole body. "The heart is only as good as the fuel it's provided with."
Blackwell asks what caused the low oxygen in Floyd's body. Rich says being in the prone position caused positional asphyxia.
Rich also considered if a "primary heart event," such as a heart attack, or an overdose directly caused the low oxygen.
When reviewing the evidence, Dr. Rich reached with a high degree of medical certainty that Floyd did not die from a primary heart event or drug overdose.
Rich looked at Floyd's past medical records, he was looking to see if he had any diagnosis. He discovered that Floyd had high blood pressure, anxiety, and drug addiction.
Every time Floyd had an encounter with a medical professional, Dr. Rich looked closely at the labs, electrocardiograms (EKGs), and all tests and records.
He didn't notice any cardiac problems in the medical records from the labs and EKGs. He also didn't notice any abnormal heart rhythms.
Blackwell asks about high blood pressure. Rich says high blood pressure in itself isn't a heart problem. High blood pressure originates in the blood vessels. In a strong heart, it can also generate high blood pressure. Rich says Floyd had a strong heart.
Over time, high blood pressure can become problematic. Rich says the heart is a muscle, so if it's overworked for a long time, it can get tired.
Rich recalls what he payed attention to in the videos he watched from May 25. If Floyd was talking, how he was walking, if he said he had heart or chest pains, what he looked like, etc.
Dr. Rich explains how during covid he has been doing many video assessments of patients, and shares how he can still gather a lot of information just from a video--neck veins, leg veins, their breathing, how they're speaking. 
Up until the point Floyd was being pushed or pulled through the squad car, Dr. Rich didn't notice anything that seemed related to low blood pressure or anything related to the heart.
Dr. Rich says Floyd was restrained in a life-threatening manner. He describes all of the ways in which he was restrained and held down by Chauvin and the two other officers.
Dr. Rich was looking for how Floyd's heart went into cardiopulmonary arrest. He observed that Floyd's speech started to become less forceful and his muscle movements slowed.
Blackwell asks what pulseless electrical activity is. Dr. Rich says it's like the heart is fluttering, but not pumping. Asystole is the absolute absence of any heart electrical activity.
Blackwell asks about heart attacks and a "silent heart attack." Dr. Rich says there were no signs of any type of heart attack. He adds that a "silent heart attack" usually happens in people with diabetes.
Blackwell asks about the autopsy report and findings. Dr. Rich says he looked at the autopsy first and then went back to it at the end. He focused on Floyd's heart. He found that his heart architecturally looked normal.
He says he was not surprised that he had coronary artery disease because that's unfortunately common in the general population. None of the arteries were completely blocked off, though.
Dr. Rich didn't see platelets or clotting, which he would have seen if Floyd died from a heart attack.
He explains how Floyd's endocardium was found to be smooth and shiny, with no signs of any heart attacks.
There was also no evidence of ischemia in the autopsy. Ischemia reduces the heart muscle's ability to pump blood.
Dr. Rich refers to Dr. Baker's description of the plaque build-up in Floyd's arteries, which he corroborates each artery had narrowing, but were not blocked.
He also shares that he believes Floyd's heart was slightly large and thick, but that wasn't surprising since he had high blood pressure. He doesn't connect his heart weight to his death.
Dr. Rich doesn't believe fentanyl caused Floyd's death. He mentions that Floyd probably had a high tolerance. Rich mentions an ER visit where Floyd took 8 percocets in 2 hours and had no symptoms or minor symptoms.
He also shares that Floyd was not exhibiting any fentanyl overdose symptoms on the videos from May 25. He was walking fine, speaking clearly (not slurring), he wasn't incredibly lethargic. Dr. Rich also says he didn't see signs of a methamphetamine OD either.
Dr. Rich says that Floyd's death was preventable. He describes a moment in one of the videos where he heard an officer say "I think he's passing out," and Dr. Rich says at that moment if Floyd was repositioned it could have saved his life.
Blackwell asks Dr. Rich what he thinks Chauvin should have done once the officers realized Floyd didn't have a pulse. He says they should have stopped restraining and immediately started chest compressions.
Dr. Rich also says in one of the videos he heard another officer say they should roll Floyd over, and Chauvin said no.
Dr. Rich says a lot of time had passed since the time Floyd didn't have a pulse to when paramedics arrived, so the likelihood of survival was low.
Blackwell asked Dr. Rich again if he believed George Floyd would have lived through the night of May 25 if he hadn't been restrained for over 9 minutes, Nelson objected, but the judge overruled. Dr. Rich says yes, he believed Floyd would have survived.
Blackwell then asked a hypothetical about if a general healthy person was restrained for over 9 minutes, if they would have survived, and Nelson objected, which the judge agreed with, so Blackwell ended his questioning.
Mid-morning break. Court will be back at 11:30 a.m. central.
We are back from break. Nelson is cross-examining.
Nelson asks if "we can agree" if someone can die from a 90% blockage. Dr. Rich disagrees.
Nelsons asks if someone may not experience pain from an arrhythmia, Dr. Rich agrees.
Nelson asks how coronary artery disease is diagnosed in a living person. Dr. Rich says people usually have heart pain and pressure.
Nelson is trying to get Dr. Rich to connect coronary artery disease and Floyd's death. However Dr. Rich continues to answer carefully and said that anyone can die from a heart attack or other heart problems, even if they don't artery narrowing.
Nelson jumps quickly to methamphetamine. He asks if prolonged use ages the heart quicker. Dr. Rich says he doesn't describe it as "ages." He says it depends on what Nelson means by prolonged also.
Nelson brings up adrenaline. Then brings up paraganglioma. Dr. Rich explains what adrenaline is and says how he diagnoses paraganglioma (rare tumor). During his autopsy, Dr. Baker found paraganglioma near Floyd's hip.
Nelson asks if the medical records that Dr. Rich saw were limited. Dr. Rich says he doesn't know when Floyd first got diagnosed with high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, but he reviewed the last 3 years of Floyd's medical records.
Nelson asks Dr. Rich if he knows if taking fentanyl and methamphetamine causes more overdoses than taking them on their own. Dr. Rich says he doesn't know.
Nelson asked if Dr. Rich thought if Floyd had gotten in the squad car, if he would have survived, Dr. Rich said if he wasn't put in the prone position and restrained, he doesn't think he would have died.
Nelson asks if people are put in the prone position in the ER. Dr. Rich says it happens rarely, but they are also put on a respirator at the same time.
Nelson is done with cross-examination.
Blackwell re-directs and asks about when Nelson mentioned "blockage" of Floyd's arteries. Dr. Rich says he uses "blockage" when talking about blood vessels, but uses narrowing when talking about arteries. He adds that even in 90% narrowing, blood can still flow sufficiently.
Blackwell asks about the paraganglioma, Dr. Rich says because they found it during the autopsy and it didn't seem like a cause of Floyd's death, that the correct term is an incidental-loma.
Dr. Rich says high blood pressure can cause death in areas outside of the heart such as a stroke. Dr. Rich confirms that Floyd didn't die of a stroke or anything else caused by high blood pressure.
Nelson re-crosses. He brings up all of the factors (drugs, high blood pressure, paraganglioma, adrenaline), and asks if all of the things combined could cause death even if there was not a restraint. Dr. Rich says no, he doesn't agree. Nelson ends questioning.
Dr. Rich is excused from the stand. There is a long lunch break until 1:30 p.m. central. Thanks for tuning in.
Back from break. Judge Cahill is talking about Morries Hall, the subpoenaed witness who is pleading the 5th.
The judge rules against Hall testifying.
Break is continuing for about 8 more minutes.
Court is back. Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, is on the stand.
Philonise Floyd talks about how he and George Floyd used to play video games together and how George would make the best banana and mayonnaise sandwiches.
Philonise shares how he was married on May 24, 2020 and then his brother George Floyd died on May 25, then their mother died on May 30.
A picture is shown of their mom and George as a baby. Philonise begins to cry and says he misses them both so much.
These two photographs are of a young George Floyd. The first is of him at Jack Yates High School, and the other is of him on the far left in the number 5 basketball jersey. He was on the South Florida Community College basketball team.
This photograph is of George Floyd and his daughter.
Their mom died on May 30, 2018, and Philonise describes how George was so distraught and was crying out for his mother by her casket.
Nelson declines to cross-examine. Philonise Floyd is excused from the stand.
Next on the stand is Seth Stoughton. He is an associate law professor at the University of South Carolina Law School.
His prior career was as a police officer in the Tallahassee Police Department in Florida.
He was a patrol officer for 5 years where for 2 years he was on their special response team and taught self-defense classes.
After an investigator job in the Florida education system, he then decided to go to law school.
He focuses on regulatory practices in policing. He has authored book chapters and co-authored a book called Evaluating Police Uses of Force.
He does consulting work and training for police agencies.
He has done presentations and trainings at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He has been retained as an expert witness around 60 times.
Stoughton continues to expand upon his experience. Schleicher brings the questioning directly to Derek Chauvin's trial and the amount Stoughton charges for his work. He shares he has already received about $25,000 for this trial.
Schleicher asks if Stoughton rules in favor of the side that pays him to partake in a trial, which he chuckles at and says no.
To prepare for this trial, Stoughton watched body-worn camera videos, by-stander videos, and city camera videos. He shares how it is common to look at videos to determine use-of-force. He has even published works about how to study videos in legal cases.
Stoughton says he put together a 300-page report about May 25, 2020, including a lengthy appendix.
When reviewing uses of force, Stoughton says that he first wants to identify what the uses of force are. He then identifies the relative facts and circumstances. Then he assesses the threat, if any, the officers felt from the individual.
Stoughton talks about the constitutional standards for uses of force. Schleicher brings up the Graham v. Connor Supreme Court ruling.
Stoughton says a threat exists if the individual has the physical ability, the opportunity, and the apparent intention to cause a particular threat.
Stoughton says risk cannot justify use-of-force.
Schleicher asks if the size of a person is a threat or a risk. Stoughton says it can be a risk, but is not a threat.
Schleicher asks if someone is on drugs. Stoughton says it can be a consideration and risk, but not a threat.
Consideration of risk is also an aspect, says Stoughton. Someone who is robbing a bank with a gun is more risky than someone bouncing a check.
Stoughton talks about the different types of resistance. Schleicher then asks about foreseeable effects and actual effects.
Stoughton says use-of-force isn't always a quick action like firing a gun, it can be sustained, which is what happened on May 25.
Stoughton says how Floyd was in the prone position for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Schleicher asks about standard of sustained use-of-force.
In this case, Stoughton says before arriving on the scene, Chauvin would have known that Floyd was possibly intoxicated and that a counterfeit bill was involved.
Stoughton says that a reasonable officer arriving on the scene and seeing the officers trying to get Floyd into the squad car and that Floyd was handcuffed and had been searched.
Stoughton says Floyd was not objecting to being in police custody, but did not want to be put into the back of the squad car. Stoughton describes how Floyd asks to be put on the ground or in the front seat instead.
Once Floyd is taken out of the squad car, he thanks the officers, and then they drag him to the ground and get on top of him. Stoughton says it was not necessary to put Floyd in the prone position at that time.
Stoughton says the prone position is useful in policing to handcuff someone. It is very difficult for someone to resist in that position. Stoughton says the prone position is supposed to be transitory.
Stoughton says right as Floyd is put in the prone position, the restraint period began and Chauvin began kneeling on Floyd's neck.
Stoughton explains his Use of Force Evaluation timeline. Schleicher moves through different angles of footage to highlight different parts of the 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
Stoughton says he heard the officers seem to agree not to do the hobble technique on Floyd because they would have to call their supervisor if they did.
Stoughton confirms if someone is placed in the hobble position, they should be immediately put in the recovery position after they're secured.
Schleicher just played two clips where at least one of the fellow officers suggests flipping Floyd on his side, and Chauvin says no.
The Use of Force Evaluation moves forward. Stoughton says there are foreseeable effects if someone is put in the prone position for a long time including difficulty breathing, which a reasonable officer would have known.
Stoughton shares what he hears and sees in the next clip that is shown--George Floyd saying he can't breathe. He also hears the officers talking about Floyd's possible intoxication.
Stoughton says that Floyd was exhibiting increased medical distress over time with how his voice was deepening and slowing and with him saying he was in pain and couldn't breathe.
A clip is played where ex-Officer Lane says he thinks Floyd has passed out, yet the officers remain on top of him. Stoughton says there is no threat and even no risk to the officers at this point.
Ex-Officer King checks Floyd's pulse, which is shown in the screen shot of his body-worn camera. He then says out loud that he can't find a pulse, and Chauvin doesn't move off of Floyd's neck.
Schleicher shows a clip from when the paramedics arrive, which is when Chauvin finally lifts his knee off of Floyd. Stoughton confirms that Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.
Afternoon break. Court will resume in 15 minutes. Thanks for tuning in.
Court is back. Stoughton is still on the stand. Schleicher asks if Floyd presented as a threat at all during the 9 minutes and 29 seconds, which Stoughton says no, he did not.
Schleicher asks how many by-standers Stoughton notices on ex-Officer Thao's body-worn camera footage. Stoughton says about 5. He also mentions for 3.5 minutes the by-standers are quiet.
Schleicher plays a clip when Officer Thao says "this is why you don't do drugs, kids," to the by-standers. This clip stuck out to Stoughton because if the officers were worried about a threat from the by-standers, they shouldn't say things that could anger them.
Stoughton says the by-standers didn't present a threat to the officers during the restraint period.
Chauvin told Mr. McMillan (one of the by-standers) that he used the force he did because he was large and possibly on drugs.
Stoughton says officers are not paramedics or doctors, so they need to respond to a situation as it appears and trust someone if they say they are in medical distress.
Stoughton reiterates it's not just listening to what someone says, but paying attention to body language and how someone is speaking and what they sound like.
Stoughton says that the use-of-force Chauvin used on Floyd on May 25, 2020 was deadly force and that it was not reasonable--both the knee on Floyd's neck and the prone position.
He also says that no reasonable officer on the scene would have believed Chauvin's use-of-force was reasonable and appropriate.
Nelson is cross-examining. He has Stoughton confirm that he was a police officer for about 5 years, which he confirms.
Nelson brings up the "totality of the circumstances" established in Graham v. Connor.
Nelson goes through the four prongs that Stoughton reviews use-of-force with, and which he went over thoroughly with Schleicher.
Nelson is asking a complicated question, which Stoughton replies to that there are two different questions in that one question. Nelson asks Stoughton to answer both questions.
Stoughton says that police officers are expected to comply with their training.
Nelson brings up how Chauvin was called to the scene by dispatch as a code 3, and he asks if that means a reasonable officer would have a heightened awareness? Stoughton says it depends on the circumstances, and for this case, no.
Nelson asks if a code 3 would mean something more serious was happening. He also asks if something that is not serious can become serious. Stoughton says things can change, yes.
Nelson brings up that people can lie about illness or injury to not be arrested, and uses an example of someone saying they are having a heart attack and then start doing jumping jacks. Stoughton says an officer is not qualified to determine if someone is faking or not.
Nelson asks if a reasonable officer has to have awareness of his circumstances. Stoughton says yes. Nelson then asks if someone says they are going to cooperate, but aren't acting like they will, should the officer assume the person will cooperate at some point?
Stoughton says the officer shouldn't assume what a person will or won't do. Judge Cahill calls for a sidebar.
Nelson asks Stoughton if an officer or a suspect gets to choose if they are put in a squad car or not. Stoughton references legal authority.
Nelson asks Stoughton to recall his opinion that when a reasonable officer arrives on a scene, they would assume an arrested individual was searched if they were being put into a squad car. Nelson then asked if the officer would know if it was thorough.
Nelson brings up the prone position. Stoughton confirms that he does not think the prone position was necessary or reasonable at all. Nelson asks reasonable minds differ, right? Stoughton says not in this.
Nelson reads from a quote in an article written by Stoughton in the Washington Post. The quote mentioned the prone position, and Stoughton said the context was for being handcuffed.
Nelson also reads a part that says putting pressure on the neck while in prone shouldn't happen, and Nelson brings up that this article was published a few days after May 25, 2020.
Nelson suggests that Stoughton made up his mind about the case at that time. He asks if Stoughton thought Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck for the whole 9 minutes and 29 seconds, which Stoughton says he thinks it was there for the majority, but pressure on neck is always bad.
Nelson asks if considering by-standers is something a reasonable officer would do. Stoughton says it can be something to consider, but in this case the by-standers aren't threatening.
Nelson asks if the police were aware that their actions were being recorded, which Stoughton answers with yes because they were wearing body cameras. Nelson asks about the by-standers filming with their phones, Stoughton says officers were probably aware.
"Use-of-force continuum" is brought up by Nelson. He asks if Stoughton has heard of that, he says yes. Nelson also asks about the idea of "awful, but lawful" in reference to use-of-force. Stoughton says yes he has heard of it.
Nelson asks about Floyd's legs. Stoughton confirms that ex-Officer Lane was controlling and holding down Floyd's lower legs.
Nelson asks about the "crowd," which Stoughton says he wouldn't call it a "crowd" because there were only 12-15 by-standers.
Nelson's line of questioning now is concerning the totality of the circumstances and how that may have distracted Chauvin or made him take certain actions.
Stoughton says again for the first 3.5 minutes the by-standers were pretty quiet. Nelson mentions there was radio traffic. Stoughton agrees.
Nelson asks when Stoughton is reviewing, he is not actually on the scene and was not able to have the sensory experiences. Stoughton agrees.
Stoughton also confirms that he was not in a dangerous situation when reviewing the case.
Nelson asks about the knee being positioned on the upper back while in the prone position, if that would be deadly force. Stoughton says it wouldn't be deadly if it was transitory.
Nelson asks about a possible risk if they flipped Chauvin over, Stoughton says if they perceived a risk, that is not a threat, and they could mitigate the risk. Nelson ends cross. Schleicher is re-directing.
Schleicher asks if Stoughton thinks a reasonable officer would have noticed he was kneeling on top of a limp body. Stoughton says yes, he would hope so.
Stoughton brings up that it's well-known that someone in positional asphyxia may move their body to try and breathe.
Schleicher is done with re-direct. No re-cross. Stoughton is excused. Judge Cahill says the defense case starts tomorrow. He reminds that the jury will be sequestered during deliberation. He mentions how Friday may be a day-off with closing statements on Monday.
Court is done for the day. We will be live again tomorrow morning. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay up-to-date at our website-->unicornriot.ninja/derek-chauvin-…
Here's the second part of today's stream: twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
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