Floyd’s pain lasted longer
Pinned for over 9 mins. – probers
It will be key evidence at the murder trial for the officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck — but it’s not the number people have come to recognize.
The time Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck — while the unarmed Black man lost consciousness and fell into cardiac arrest — is due to be pegged at “approximately nine minutes.”
The initial complaint filed against Chauvin last May said the duration was 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
That figure quickly caught on and became highly symbolic — a duration printed on protest signs and used to hold moments of silence in Floyd’s honor at demonstrations around the world.
But it was based on a math error that prosecutors acknowledged a month later.
Chauvin’s original complaint included exact time stamp codes from early video evidence collected in the case — but the time that elapsed between the listed time stamps was miscalculated. It should have said 7 minutes and 46 seconds.
As the investigation progressed, prosecutors released a more detailed timeline in October based on the full picture provided by all the video eventually collected in the case.
They said Floyd was actually pushed facedown on the pavement for 9½ minutes — from approximately 20:19:14 to 20:28:45, the moment when Chauvin “finally removed his knee from Floyd’s neck.”
The documents don’t list an exact time Chauvin specifically began kneeling on Floyd — as opposed to the other officers who restrained his torso and lower body. But various filings by prosecutors describe the duration as “approximately nine minutes,” and “more than nine minutes and twenty seconds.”
Experts say the initial math error could come up during the trial but probably won’t matter.
“For the defense, they’ll likely try to exploit the mistake and use it to undermine the prosecution’s case, arguing the jury isn’t getting accurate information. But I don’t think this is a case that will come down to seconds,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
“Prosecutors are going to say it’s a distraction, considering what else they have to look at,” Levenson told the Daily News.
Graphic video captured by civilian witnesses shows Chauvin, 44, kneeling on Floyd’s neck as the father of five gasped for air, cried “I can’t breathe” multiple times, called out for his dead mother and eventually fell unresponsive.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and anslaughter. Three other officers — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. They’re scheduled to go on trial together in August.
“It’s not uncommon for a timeline to change. This is exactly how cases progress. There’s an initial filing based on the initial investigation, and as we get closer to trial, investigators continue to investigate, and prosecutors fine-tune their case with the most accurate information,” Levenson said.
Tom Heffelfinger, a former federal prosecutor in Minnesota, told The Associated Press that the jury will come to their own conclusion about whether Chauvin unnecessarily held his position for too long, causing Floyd’s death.
“You can see from the bystander video, Chauvin had Floyd under control for that entire period,” Heffelfinger told the AP. “He didn’t need to have his knee to the neck in order to maintain that … control.”
Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Jury selection in the case begins Monday.