The judge overseeing Derek Chauvin’s murder trial rejected a motion from the defense to acquit the former Minneapolis police officer.
Such requests are routine in criminal cases, although Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the defense’s argument that the state had failed to prove Chauvin was responsible for George Floyd’s death.
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Defense attorney Eric Nelson alleged that the prosecution did not convince the jury that there was any use of force by Chauvin or whether any use of force was unreasonable.
“[The state has introduced evidence that] clearly established that the defendant’s conduct was a causal factor in bringing about Mr. Floyd’s death,” prosecutor Steve Schleicher responded.
Such requests are rarely granted by a judge.
On the second day of the defense’s arguments, Nelson called to the stand David Fowler, a forensic pathologist who previously worked as Maryland’s chief medical examiner.
Fowler told the court that Floyd’s heart condition was his cause of death, not Chauvin’s restraint technique.
“In my opinion, Mr. Floyd had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia, or cardiac arrhythmia, due to his atherosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease … during his restraint and subdual by the police,” said Fowler, adding that Floyd’s heart troubles were likely exasperated by his heavy drug use or exposure to the exhaust from Chauvin’s police car.
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On Monday, Cahill denied the defense’s request to sequester the jury after the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
