Day 13 #DerekChauvinTrial thread.
Jury not in room. Morries Hall makes an appearance before the judge to say he will not answer any questions if called to the stand, pleading the 5th.
Hall's public defender argued that it could incriminate him in a 3rd degree murder charge.
ICYMI: Last week, Morries Hall's public defender Adrienne Cousins laid out the reasons why Hall plans to plead the 5th. His testimony could open him to a 3rd degree murder charge related to an OD death, as well charges for drug dealing, drug use.
Defense calls as expert testifier Dr. David Fowler, retired forensic pathologist.
Dr. Fowler is testifying, based on his analysis of the case information, that #GeorgeFloyd died of heart disease with contributing factors of fentanyl, meth and exposure to vehicle exhaust.
Dr. Fowler is now testifying about the carbon monoxide factor he believes contributed to #GeorgeFloyd's death (from the running squad car. GF was at the back of the car). He says CO attaches to red blood cells more tightly than oxygen & oxygen can't displace it. #ChauvinTrial
Info slides being shown to jury re CO poisoning.
Dr. Fowler suggests #GeorgeFloyd's blood should have been tested for signs of CO poisoning, but he could find no reference that it was tested in the autopsy report.
Prosecution now questioning Dr. Fowler. They're showing video and stills in which they claim #GeorgeFloyd was chewing gum, refuting Dr. Fowler's implication that GF had a pill in his mouth.
South Minneapolis - OFFICER HELP CALL.
Police on site at the Lake St YMCA, possible shots fired. There had been reports of a large crowd, fights, and people with guns. Up to 300 people on site where there was a basketball tourney.
2121 E Lake St
20:32
2/ Police say there's a person in the gym with a gun.
Three males in jumpsuits. One in gray, one in black, all in masks. One had long dreads.
3/ Police say the Lake St YMCA in south Minneapolis is now empty, they are double checking the bathrooms.
NEW only on Crime Watch:
Local chef of notoriety Justin Sutherland was apparently arrested overnight, we're told on probable cause domestic assault and allegedly involving a firearm.
More to come...
2/ Sutherland has just happened to be the head chef at some local joints where gangs like to have shootouts, at least a couple in and around Uptown and south Minneapolis. Probably totally a coinkydink.
3/ A Dec. 2020 blog post notes that Sutherland and other chefs were part of making sure the George Floyd "protesters" were fed [and burning down and looting businesses] on full stomachs.
1. This is new. Another 5 people are charged in the Twin Cities with Medicaid fraud totaling over $10M (we'll come back to this).
2. The guy pictured (1) was charged in a prior theft by swindle case and the video shown was from a probation violation hearing in the case last year. His lawyer pictured in the video is former state Rep. John Lesch (pic 2-3) .
The fraud in the case John Lesch was defending for this guy, occurred WHILE John Lesch was a state rep.
It just seems dirty that someone who had a fiduciary responsibility to the people of the state ends up defending a criminal who defrauded taxpayers under that state rep's own watch (and this isn't new, it's just gross. See also Sen. Bobby Joe Champion for many more examples).
3. Circling back, can someone please put together a shareable Google spreadsheet showing the number of fraud cases and the amounts (must be closing in on $1 billion by now) that has occurred under the watch of @GovTimWalz and @AGEllison. Thank you.
2/
Just as a point of note of even more corruption, when Abdirashid Said (above) was charged in the prior felony theft by swindle case in 2021, he was living at Audubon Crossings in NE Minneapolis - an "affordable" income limited apartment.
Where is the @IRSnews prosecuting these people for receiving monetary benefits to which they are not entitled and failing to pay taxes on those benefits?
3/ Everyone should listen to this GL episode from yesterday where Soucheray lays out the multitude of fraud committed under @GovTimWalz and calls for him to resign. Crime Watch seconds that call. Please add your voice to the call.
South Minneapolis - Earlier this morning, occupants of this red vehicle were breaking vehicle windows and doing smash and grabs in the areas of:
38th and 10th Ave S
35th and Park Ave S
41st and 15th Ave S
42nd and 11th Ave S
39th and Elliot Ave S
39xx 12th Ave S
Broken rear window, Arizona or ND plate same/similar to 445BGV. Occupied by 4 in teens or 20s.
These widespread smash and grabs have been going on for DAYS, with hundreds of victims. ZERO #MNmedia have reported the incidents.
It's a godd*m free-for-all in this city that's being completely ignored by "leaders" and media. ZERO warnings, ZERO reports, except from Crime Watch.
When encryption comes, YOU WILL KNOW NOTHING. And that's what they want.
2/ Read about the hundreds of windows smashed by marauders earlier this week across Minneapolis.