Legal expert calls force used against Floyd excessive

MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors’ case against former Officer Derek Chauvin drew toward a close Monday with tender memories from George Floyd’s younger brother, along with another look at the harrowing video and testimony from a useofforce expert who said no “reasonable” officer would have done what Chauvin did.

Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, judged Chauvin’s actions against what a reasonable police officer in the same situation would have done, and repeatedly found that Chauvin did not meet the test.

“No reasonable officer would have believed that that was an appropriate, acceptable or reasonable use of force,” Stoughton said of the way Floyd was held facedown with a knee across his neck for up to 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

He said it was unreasonable as well to think that Floyd might harm officers or escape after he had been handcuffed. And in yet another blow to Chauvin’s defense, Stoughton said a reasonable officer would not have viewed the yelling bystanders as a threat.

The matter of what is reasonable carries great weight: Police officers are allowed certain latitude to use deadly force when someone puts the officer or other people in danger. But legal experts say a key question for the jury will be whether Chauvin’s actions were reasonable in those specific circumstances.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case on Tuesday, after which the defense will begin presenting its side. During 11 days of testimony, prosecution experts, including the Minneapolis police chief and medical professionals, said that the nowfired white officer violated his training and used excessive force and that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because of the way his breathing was constricted.

Earlier Monday, Philonise Floyd, 39, took the witness stand and lovingly recalled his older brother. He shed tears as he was shown a picture of his late mother and a young George, saying, “I miss both of them.”

His testimony at Chauvin’s murder trial was part of an effort by prosecutors to humanize George Floyd in front of the jury and make the 46yearold Black man more than a crime statistic. Minnesota is a rarity in allowing “spark of life” testimony during the trial stage.

Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s May 25 death.