The murder trial for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, began on Monday (March 29). Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter in Floyd's death.
Video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes last May went viral and sparked worldwide protests against racism and police brutality.
Prosecutors will argue that Chauvin was responsible for killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck as he "repeatedly stated he could not breathe and his physical condition continued to deteriorate such that force was no longer necessary to control him." The medical examiner determined that Floyd suffered cardiac arrest and ruled his death a homicide.
"The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was nonresponsive," the prosecution wrote in an amended complaint. "Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous."
Chauvin's defense will argue that Floyd died due to drug use and pre-existing health conditions and that Chauvin did not intend to harm him. The medical examiner found that Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system when he died.
"It is clear from the evidence that Mr. Floyd was under the influence of narcotics when he encountered the officers and that he most likely died from an opioid overdose," Chauvin's lawyers wrote in a motion to dismiss the charges. "Combined with sickle cell trait, his pre-existing heart conditions, Mr. Floyd's use of fentanyl and methamphetamine most likely killed him."
The entire trial will be broadcast live and is expected to last at least four weeks.
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