A witness for the defense in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin testified Tuesday that he did not consider Chauvin\u2019s actions to have amounted to a deadly use of force against George Floyd, but he later walked back some of his testimony upon cross-examination.<\/p>\n
Chauvin is facing three homicide-related charges in Floyd\u2019s death that could land him behind bars for up to 15 years. Floyd, a Black man, was killed after being restrained with a knee to his neck for more than nine minutes last May by Chauvin, a white officer.<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Eric Nelson called to the stand Barry Brodd \u2015 a former police officer who works as a consultant on the use of force \u2015 to counter statements given last week by law enforcement officers who were critical of Chauvin\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
Brodd stated plainly during questioning by the defense that he did not think Chauvin used deadly force against Floyd, which occurred after a convenience store clerk reported that he suspected Floyd had paid for cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. He acknowledged instead that sometimes law enforcement actions can inadvertently lead to death, such as a situation in which an officer shocks a suspect who then falls and hits his head.<\/p>\n
Brodd then testified that he did not consider Chauvin\u2019s method of restraint, which he termed \u201cprone control,\u201d to be a use of force at all. (\u201cProne\u201d is the law enforcement term used to describe a suspect who is forced onto their stomach.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to sit and judge in an office on an officer\u2019s conduct,\u201d Brodd said Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Video widely viewed around the world showed Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd\u2019s neck and upper back for several minutes after Floyd stopped resisting and appeared to lose consciousness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At another point in his testimony, Brodd would not say if it looked like Floyd became unconsciousness in the video, saying, \u201cI can\u2019t tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his cross-examination, prosecutor Steve Schleicher punched several holes in Brodd\u2019s assessment of the arrest \u2015 including his denial that Chauvin\u2019s knee was ever on Floyd\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
Schleicher began by asking about Brodd\u2019s definition of use of force. Brodd said that he would consider an action to be a use of force if it caused Floyd pain, and he acknowledged that Chauvin\u2019s position on top of Floyd \u201ccould\u201d have been painful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if it could produce pain, then \u2015 again just looking at your premise \u2015 if it could produce pain, then it would be a use of force, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d Schleicher asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the officers\u2019 intent was to inflict pain …\u201d Brodd began.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the officers\u2019 intent, sir,\u201d the prosecutor cut in. \u201cWhat you said was it was unlikely to produce pain, and that\u2019s why it wasn\u2019t a use of force. You now just said that it could produce pain. So, regardless of the officers\u2019 intent, if this act that we\u2019re looking at here … could produce pain, would you agree that what we\u2019re seeing here is a use of force?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShown in this picture, that could be a use of force,\u201d Brodd responded.<\/p>\n
Later, Schleicher challenged Brodd\u2019s assertion that Chauvin\u2019s knee was consistently positioned on Floyd\u2019s upper back by displaying a still image from body camera footage. He circled Floyd\u2019s upper back and asked Brodd to confirm that the knee was above it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout his testimony, Brodd said he believed Chauvin was using an appropriate level of restraint given Floyd\u2019s initial resistance to getting into the police car. He suggested that the fact Floyd could vocalize the phrase \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d was evidence he could, in fact, breathe \u2015 a sharp deviation from the several medical experts who testified last week that Floyd died of a lack of oxygen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brodd shifted his stance slightly after viewing a clip of Floyd struggling against the officers, saying that a reasonable officer \u201ccould\u201d take what Floyd was saying seriously given the circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After playing a video clip that showed Floyd mostly immobile against the weight of Chauvin and two other officers above, Schleicher asked Brodd how Floyd was not complying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see his arm position in the picture posted, and a compliant person would have their hands in the small of their back and just be resting comfortably, versus he\u2019s still moving around,\u201d Brodd said.<\/p>\n
Schleicher pointed out that Floyd was on hard pavement. He responded: \u201cSo attempting to breathe while restrained is being slightly noncompliant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Brodd said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Schleicher echoed.<\/p>\n
Upon reexamination by the defense, Nelson used Brodd to argue that showing brief clips of the encounter between Floyd and the Minneapolis officers could obscure all of the factors the officers had to take into account as they worked. Nelson has consistently painted the small crowd of bystanders that gathered to protest the officers\u2019 treatment of Floyd as a potential threat.<\/p>\n
The trial is set to resume Wednesday with more witnesses called by the defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n