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Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin on Thursday waived his right to testify to the jury about his part in the deadly arrest last May of George Floyd as both sides rested their cases at his murder trial, the most high-profile police misconduct case in decades.
“I will invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege today,” Chauvin, 45, said in a hearing before the jury was brought in on Thursday morning after briefly removing his mask, referring to the constitutional right against self-incrimination. They were his most extensive remarks since his trial began with jury selection on March 8.
The defense told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill it would call no more witnesses after two days of testimony and rested its case, which has focused on raising doubts about what caused Floyd’s death.
Prosecutors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial will formally rest their case Tuesday after capping two weeks of intense and often excruciating testimony with an appearance Monday from George Floyd's younger brother.
Derek Chauvin trial: The latest - The Washington Post washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
George Floyd died of low level of oxygen, medical expert testifies; Derek Chauvin kept knee on his neck ‘majority of the time’ Holly Bailey
MINNEAPOLIS The pressure of Derek Chauvin’s knees on George Floyd’s neck and back made it virtually impossible for the handcuffed man to breathe as he was pinned face down on a street and would have killed any healthy person, an expert on the respiratory system testified Thursday.
Martin Tobin, a Chicago-area pulmonologist and critical-care doctor who specializes in the science of breathing, testified that the pressure of Chauvin “jamming” his knees into Floyd’s body cut off oxygen and led to brain damage within minutes, sparking an arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop. He characterized Chauvin’s knee as being on Floyd’s neck “the vast majority of the time.”
Prosecutors: 14-year-old boy cried mom as Minneapolis police officer Chauvin knelt on his back for 17 minutes wctrib.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wctrib.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.