Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck ‘entire time’

OFFICER Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck and was bearing down with most of his weight the entire time Mr Floyd lay face down with his hands cuffed behind his back, a use-of-force expert said at Chauvin’s murder trial.

Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution witness, said that based on his review of video evidence, Chauvin’s knee was on Mr Floyd’s neck from the time officers put Mr Floyd on the ground until paramedics arrived, about 9 1/2 minutes, by prosecutors’ reckoning.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher showed jurors a composite image of five photos taken from various videos of the arrest. Mr Stiger went through each photo, saying it appeared that the Minneapolis officer’s left knee was on Mr Floyd’s neck or neck area in each one.

“That particular force did not change during the entire restraint period?” Mr Schleicher asked.

“Correct,” Mr Stiger replied. His evidence came a day after Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson sought to point out moments in the video footage when, he said, Chauvin’s knee did not appear to be on Mr Floyd’s neck.

Mr Nelson also has suggested that bystanders who were yelling at Chauvin to get off Mr Floyd distracted the officers.

On Tuesday, the defence lawyer got some police witnesses to acknowledge that jeering onlookers can make it more difficult for officers to do their duty.

But Mr Stiger told Mr Schleicher: “I did not perceive them as being a threat”, even though some onlookers were name-calling and using foul language. He added that most of the yelling was due to “their concern for Mr Floyd”.

It was Mr Stiger’s second day in the witness box.

On Tuesday, he said officers were justified in using force while Mr Floyd was resisting their efforts to put him in a squad car.

But once Mr Floyd was on the ground and stopped resisting, officers “should have slowed down or stopped their force as well”.

Mr Stiger said that after reviewing video, “my opinion was that the force was excessive”.

Several experienced officers, including the police chief himself, have given evidence as part of an effort by prosecutors to dismantle the argument that Chauvin was doing what he was trained to do when restrained Mr Floyd last May. According to evidence and records submitted on Tuesday, Chauvin took a 40-hour course in 2016 on how to recognise people in crisis.