Derek Chauvin ‘should have ended George Floyd restraint sooner,’ court hears

A retired police sergeant testified that the officers should have stopped restraining Floyd before he died
Retired Minneapolis Police Sergeant David Ploeger answers questions on the fourth day of the trial
via REUTERS
Reuters2 April 2021

Derek Chauvin’s former supervisor has told his murder trial that police officers should have ended their restraint of George Floyd when he had stopped resisting - at the point when he was handcuffed.

David Pleoger, who was on duty at the time of Mr Floyd’s death gave evidence at Mr Chauvin’s murder trial on Thursday.

He told the court how officers are trained to roll people on their side to help with their breathing after they have been restrained in the prone position.

“When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended the restraint,” Mr Pleoger said.

“And that was after he was handcuffed and on the ground and no longer resistant?”, prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked.

“Correct,” replied Mr Ploeger, whos is now retired.

Courteney Ross
AP

Chauvin, 45, is accused of killing Mr Floyd by pinning his knee on his neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs.

Mr Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.

His death triggered large protests around the US and the world. The most serious charge against Chauvin carries up to 40 years in prison.

Thursday's testimony began with Mr Floyd's girlfriend tearfully telling the jury how they met in 2017 — at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard.

Courteney Ross, 45, said Mr Floyd had a “ great, deep Southern voice,” — and told how they both struggled with an addiction to painkillers.

“Our story, it's a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. We both suffered from chronic pain. Mine was in my neck and his was in his back," she said.

She said they "tried really hard to break that addiction many times”.

Prosecutors put Ms Ross on the stand in an effort to humanise Mr Floyd in front of the jury and portray him as more than a crime statistic.

The defence has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do when he encountered Mr Floyd in May 2020 and that Mr Floyd's death was caused by drugs, his underlying health conditions and his own adrenaline. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.

Ms Ross said she and Mr Floyd struggled with addiction throughout their relationship — testimony that could help prosecutors blunt the argument that drugs killed Mr Floyd.

Medical experts have said that while the level of fentanyl in his system could be fatal, people who use the drug regularly can develop a tolerance.

Ms Ross said they both had prescriptions, and when those ran out, they took the prescriptions of others and used illegal drugs.

“Addiction, in my opinion, is a lifelong struggle... it's not something that just kind of comes and goes. It's something I'll deal with forever,” she said.

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