Move to acquit in Floyd case rejected

MINNEAPOLIS: The defence lawyer for white former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin, who is on trial for the murder or manslaughter of black man George Floyd last year, said prosecutors had failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and his client should be acquitted.

Mr Chauvin was seen in a video taken by a bystander kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the handcuffed 46-year-old said “I can’t breathe” several times before losing consciousness and dying.

The motion is a standard request in criminal trials at the end of the presentation of the prosecution case, and it was rejected on Wednesday by Judge Peter Cahill.

“The motion for judgment of acquittal is denied,” Justice Cahill said.

After the prosecution had wrapped up its case, Mr Chauvin’s defence lawyers tried to claim that exhaust fumes from a police vehicle at the scene had contributed to Mr Floyd’s police custody death.

David Richard Fowler, a retired Maryland forensics expert, told jurors that while Mr Floyd did not die from carbon monoxide poisoning, it was a “contributing condition”.

“His face was facing towards the vehicle, towards the rear of the vehicle, and directly towards the area where you would expect the tailpipe or the tailpipes of the vehicle to be,” Mr Fowler testified.

“Let me ask you,” Mr Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson said. “Are you suggesting that Mr Floyd died from carbon monoxide poisoning?”

“Absolutely not, no,” Mr Fowler said.

“Not a full carbon monoxide poisoning. No.”

Also on Wednesday, a former police officer and use-offorce expert testified that Mr Chauvin’s decision to put his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes was “justified”. Other experts for the prosecution all testified the use of force was unreasonable.