Ted Williams: Police chief testimony ‘devastating’ to Derek Chauvin

Former D.C. homicide detective discusses evidence from the Minneapolis murder trial on ‘The Story’

The murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, charged in George Floyd’s death, is continuing Thursday.

The prosecution is expected to call more witnesses in a morning court session scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles police Sgt. Jody Stiger testified as an expert witness on behalf of the prosecution. Stiger said that based on his review of video evidence, Chauvin’s knee was on Floyd’s neck on May 25, 2020, from the time officers put Floyd on the ground until paramedics arrived.  

FAST FACTS

• Floyd, 46, was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. 
• Chauvin, 45, is charged with second and third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. 

Chauvin, 45, is charged with second and third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. 

“That particular force did not change during the entire restraint period?” prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked as he showed the jury a composite image of five photos taken from the various videos of the arrest.

“Correct,” Stiger replied.

Stiger’s testimony came a day after Chauvin defense attorney Eric Nelson sought to point out moments in the video footage when, he said, Chauvin’s knee did not appear to be on Floyd’s neck.

Nelson has argued that the now-fired White officer “did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career,” and he has suggested that the illegal drugs in Floyd’s system and his underlying health conditions are what killed the Black man, not Chauvin’s knee.

Nelson seized on the drug angle in cross-examining Stiger, playing a snippet of then-Officer J. Alexander Kueng’s bodycam video and asking whether Stiger could hear Floyd say, “I ate too many drugs.” 

Stiger replied he could not make out those words in the footage and prosecutors did not bring up the issue when they questioned him again.

The lead Minnesota state investigator on the case, James Reyerson, initially agreed with Nelson that Floyd seemed to say in a police body-camera video of his arrest, “I ate too many drugs.”

But after a prosecutor played a longer clip of the video, Reyerson said he believed Floyd really said, “I ain’t do no drugs.”

Breahna Giles, a state forensic scientist, also testified Wednesday that pills found in the car Floyd was driving contained methamphetamine and fentanyl.

Chauvin, 45, is standing trial on murder and manslaughter charges in connection with Floyd’s death. Prosecutors allege that Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, despite Floyd being handcuffed, in a prone position.

Fox News will present coverage surrounding the historic trial throughout the week. In addition to programming on the Fox News Channel, Fox News Digital will provide livestreams of the proceeding at FoxNews.com.

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