March 29 (UPI) — The criminal trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd began Monday, with Chauvin facing a charge of murder.
Prosecuting attorney Jerry Blackwell began his opening argument by displaying the Minneapolis Police Department badge for the jury.
“You will learn that on May 25 of 2020, Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge,” Blackwell said.
“It’s a small badge that caries with it a large responsibility and large accountability to the public.”
“They take an oath that, ‘I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately and as you will learn, as it applies to this case, never employing unnecessary force or violence,'” he added.
The jurors were shown video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, during which Floyd can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe.”
Blackwell said that Chauvin did not remove his knee from Floyd’s neck despite being told twice by other responders on the scene “that they can’t even find a pulse” on Floyd.
The prosecutor said a Minneapolis 911 dispatcher who watched the incident from a fixed police camera in the neighborhood will be called to testify.
“You’ll learn that what she saw was so unusual and for her so disturbing that she did something she had never done in her career. She called the police on the police,” he said.
In his opening statement, defense attorney Eric Nelson told jurors the case is “clearly more than about 9 minutes and 29 seconds,” which was the length of time that Blackwell said led to Floyd’s death.
“The use of force is not attractive, but it is a necessary component of policing,” Nelson said.
He told jurors they will see video of the police car Floyd was placed in rocking back and forth.
“This was not an easy struggle,” he said, adding that the anger from a growing number of bystanders prevented officers from attending to Floyd.
“You will learn that Derek Chauvin was doing exactly what he had been trained to do during the course of his 19-year career.”
“I suggest that you let common sense and reason guide you” during the trial, Nelson added.
The jury has the option of acquitting Chauvin or convicting him on a charge of murder in the second or third degree, or manslaughter in the second degree.
The trial is expected to lean heavily on expert medical witnesses to determine what killed Floyd on May 25. His death — which was captured on video — led to a national movement against police brutality and racial injustice.
Attorneys for Chauvin are expected to argue that drugs and pre-existing health conditions were the catalysts for Floyd’s death. Part of that is supported by the autopsy report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
Prosecutors are expected to contend that the 46-year-old Floyd died of asphyxiation because Chauvin placed his knee on the back of his neck for nearly nine minutes as he and other officers attempted to arrest him.
“We oftentimes just see the trial, and we don’t have any video of the killing,” Rashad Robinson, president of the racial justice organization Color of Change, told USA Today. “[This time] we saw the crime, and now we’re seeing the trial.”
Fifteen jurors were chosen, 12 of whom will decide the case.
Chauvin’s attorneys have said officers followed protocol when they arrested Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a Minneapolis food store. Police argued that he resisted arrest, which led to Chauvin handcuffing him face-down and kneeling on his neck.
Chauvin and two other Minneapolis police officers were later dismissed from the police force over Floyd’s death.
