Jury selection is underway in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged with the death of George Floyd.

The process was supposed to begin Monday but was delayed as the state supreme court reviews the possibility of re-adding a third-degree murder charge.

Derek Chauvin currently faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s death. He previously also faced a third-degree murder charge, which was dropped by Judge Peter Cahill last fall.

However, an appellate court ruled the judge "erred" in that decision and could reinstate that third-degree charge. Cahill says he does not have the power to reinstate that charge and added Monday that "unless the Court of Appeals tells me otherwise, we're going to keep moving."

State prosecutors have asked the appellate court to stop the proceedings completely until the effort to add a third-degree murder charge is resolved.

Considering the trial represents such a high-profile case, it is expected to take a few weeks to seat a jury that's deemed impartial.

Below is video showing an exchange from Tuesday morning with a potential juror illustrating the difficulty of selecting a jury.

Opening statements in the trial aren’t expected to take place until March 29.

Floyd died on May 25 while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. Video taken by bystanders at the scene of Floyd’s arrest shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

The arrest video sparked months of nationwide protests against police brutality and the largest civil rights demonstrations since the 1960s.

Video above: Hundreds rally near trial in George Floyd's death

Because the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death is being held during the coronavirus pandemic, the courtroom has been overhauled for safety.

Gone are the traditional jury box and gallery, replaced with widely spaced seats and desks for a limited contingent of attorneys, jurors and media. Plexiglas barriers and hand sanitizer are everywhere, and the participants – even the judge – wear masks.

The pandemic has upended court systems across the country, delaying jury trials and creating huge backlogs of cases. Video and teleconference hearings have allowed judges to keep the wheels of justice grinding, albeit slowly. Many courts have installed barriers or moved jury orientation and even trials themselves to bigger spaces such as convention centers to get at least some jury trials going again.

In Minnesota, in-person criminal jury trials have been mostly on hold since November. Chief Justice Lorie Gildea last month allowed them to resume effective March 15, with proper safety protocols consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Minnesota Department of Health. Most other proceedings will continue to be held remotely through April 30. A handful of exceptions have been allowed, including for the trial of Derek Chauvin's trial, the former Minneapolis officer charged in Floyd's death.

"We are gradually increasing in-person activities in court facilities in a safe and responsible manner that will allow the courts to fulfill our constitutional obligation, while we continue to do all that we can to protect public health and safety," Gildea said in a statement.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd was declared dead May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the Black man's neck for about nine minutes, holding his position even after Floyd went limp. Floyd's death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond, leading to a nationwide reckoning on race and one of the highest-profile trials of a police officer in U.S. history.

Citing the need to comply with social distancing and other safety rules, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill separated Chauvin's case from that of the three other ex-officers charged in Floyd's death, who are set for trial in August. Among other things, Cahill concluded in January, no courtroom in the building was big enough to safely accommodate four defense teams and the prosecution team all at once.

Prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to persuade Cahill to reconsider his decision to hold two trials. They argued instead for holding a single joint trial sometime this summer when they hoped enough Minnesotans would have been vaccinated to reduce the risk of any participants getting COVID-19.

They submitted an affidavit from prominent University of Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who warned that it could be "extremely dangerous" to try Chauvin this month, with "potentially catastrophic consequences for public health." He expressed fear that it could become a "superspreader event," given the large number of protesters and out-of-town journalists it was likely to draw, especially if more-contagious coronavirus variants cause a spike in cases.

But Cahill provided little explanation for rejecting those arguments, having already ruled that the proceedings would comply with court safety rules, and he kept the case on course for the trial's opening on Monday.

The 18th-floor courtroom Cahill borrowed is the largest in the Hennepin County Government Center, and it has been overhauled for the purposes of Chauvin's trial. The seating capacity was sharply reduced in the remodeling. The theater-style seating in what was the gallery was removed to create space. Tall plexiglass dividers separate the judge and court staffers from the limited number of other people in the courtroom. Clear plastic sheets also run down the middle of the defense and prosecution tables. When Chauvin and defense attorney Eric Nelson want to confer, they need to lean back a bit.

The normal jury box has been replaced with two rows of office chairs, spaced out, with small desks. There is no space for the general public. Seats are reserved in the back for just one Floyd family member and just one Chauvin family member. Only two pool reporters are allowed in at a time, plus a member of the Court TV team that's providing the feed.

The constitutional requirement for a public trial is being satisfied by allowing gavel-to-gavel TV coverage, which is rare in Minnesota courts. Cahill has taken pains to keep the identities of the potential jurors secret, prohibiting them from being shown on camera. But he got a surprise Tuesday when a retired judge watching from home texted him to let him know that he could see a reflection of Juror No. 1 in one of the plexiglass panels. The problem was quickly fixed.

Everyone in the courtroom is required to wear a face mask. The main exceptions are when attorneys speak at the podium, which has plastic panes on three sides, and when potential jurors respond to questions.

When the judge and the attorneys need to conduct a sidebar discussion, they don't huddle around the judge's bench like they normally would. Instead they put on headsets so they can hash out legal or procedural issues out of earshot of jurors.

Only four prosecutors and two defense attorneys are in court at any given time; the rest of their teams must participate remotely. So must the defense teams for the three other ex-officers facing trial this summer.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – As the Derek Chauvin trial gets underway in the death of George Floyd, American studies experts and the mother of Philando Castile are reflecting on the societal impacts these types of court cases can have.

Five years ago, Philando was pulled over by police in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. The officer said his brake lights were out, but after Philando notified the officer he had a firearm on him, the situation quickly escalated and Philando was fatally shot.

“That man walked out of that courtroom with the evidence that clearly showed him murder my son to the extent he stuck the gun in the car to make sure he shot my son in his heart,” Philando’s mother, Valerie Castile said.

At the end of the trial, the officer was acquitted of all charges.

“In my mind, I was like, you have just given these people free reign to kill,” Ms. Castile said.

Ms. Castile says police brutality will not end if, in her words, officers get away with it.

“If you’re not held accountable, you’re like ‘oohwee, I got away with that. Imma do it again and again and again. And that’s what’s been happening,’” Ms. Castile said.

George Floyd also died in the Twin Cities. A little more than nine months later, the first of four officers at the scene of his death will face his fate in court.

What happened to Floyd -- even though it got so much international attention -- is not new. So, what has come out of trials like these from the past? Do we see societal change?

“Yeah, that’s the hard part. This will be a test,” Dr. August Nimtz said.

Dr. August Nimtz is a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. He has been a professor at the university since 1971. He studies the comparison of race, class and ethnicity in the United States. He says he’s witnessed a lot of change in his lifetime.

“In the 1960s, the anti-police brutality marches were almost exclusively African American,” Dr. Nimtz said.

What he saw in the streets in the weeks following Floyd’s death were marches with multi-racial populations, including large groups of Caucasians. He says that has never happened in the history of anti-police brutality protests.

“It’s a big breakthrough in my opinion,” Dr. Nimtz said.

Outrage over the continuous deaths of innocent people has fueled the Black Lives Matter movement. Dr. Duchess Harris is an expert in the movement and a professor of American studies at Macalester College.

“Only 25% of white American supported Black Lives Matter after the killing of Philando Castile," Dr. Harris said. "That number has catapulted since George Floyd to the point that actually United States Senator Mitt Romney was wearing a Black Lives Matter face mask at a protest.”

No matter what happens during the trials, Dr. Harris says people need to pay attention.

“I want people to be engaged. I think that it’s troubling to me right now that citizens are not engaged in what is happening around the nation,” Dr. Harris said./

Depending on the outcome, Dr. Nimtz believes people will once again take to the streets.

“There will be a lot of outrage. That’s why the ruling authorities have put up all of the barricades,” Dr. Nimtz said.

In Philando’s case, Ms. Castile says there was no justice for her son. She’s anxious to see what will happen in George Floyd’s case.

If the officers are convicted instead of being acquitted, Ms. Castile said, “I would just simply say I can see progress. Thank you, Jesus, thank you Lord.”

She is pleading for justice and hoping for change.

“You had eight minutes to change your mind, and you didn’t. You put your hands in your pocket and adjusted your weight. He did that. And you have to be a damn fool if you don’t think that man is guilty. You have to be a fool,” Ms. Castile said.

CHICAGO — When former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial for the killing of George Floyd, the odds may be in his favor. Following a year of intense protests, the voices calling for accountability may be getting louder but statistically, police prosecutions are rare, even in the face of potentially damning video evidence.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder. The charges stem from a May incident, where he was caught on camera kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.

“I think anyone who watches this video and hasn't even sort of a cursory familiarity with what happened here, I think would have to conclude that this was egregious, unconscionable and unlawful misconduct,” said Jay Schweikert, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice.

In the years following the 2014 killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, the calls for accountability have grown stronger. Yet, it’s extremely rare for police officers to face serious legal consequences for using excessive force or even killing civilians.

“It takes a lot of political will to bring prosecutions against members of law enforcement in the first place,” explained Schweikert. “And in general, prosecutors are very reluctant to do that.”

The Supreme Court also gives police officers a great deal of leeway in their use of force, saying that it “…must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight."

“It's one of objective reasonableness, so if their subjective belief is that there was a threat because they're afraid of Black men, that's not objectively reasonable,” said Philip Stinson, criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University.

In Kenosha, this past September, protests and riots broke out after police officer Rusten Sheskey fired seven shots into Jacob Blake’s back, paralyzing him. No charges were filed.

“Many police officers have a fear of Black men and Black boys, and that is what's driving a lot of what we see,” said Stinson.

The 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland was especially striking, says Schweikert. Rice, who was playing with a realistic-looking pellet gun, was shot dead by an officer just two seconds after he arrived on the scene.

“I think it's shocking, that case in particular, because, as I recall, there wasn't even an attempt to secure criminal charges in that case,” said Schweikert.

Even when charges are secured, officers are seldomly convicted. Juries and courts are reluctant to second guess the split-second, life-or-death decisions of police officers in potentially dangerous situations.

According to a statistical analysis by Bowling Green State University, since 2005, 138 police officers were arrested for shooting and killing someone while on duty. While 44 were convicted of a crime, most were for lesser offenses. Only seven officers were convicted of murder.

“About 1,000 times each year, an on-duty police officer shoots and kills someone,” said Stinson. “And it's actually a very rare event that an officer is charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from one of those shootings.”

It's a rare event that will soon begin inside a Minneapolis courtroom. The question will be whether the Chauvin trial results in an exception or a rule.

The jurors selected so far in Derek Chauvin's trial in the death of George Floyd are unnamed and unseen on camera, but we do know basic details about them.

As of Thursday, five men and five women have been chosen to serve on the jury during the trial in Minneapolis. Of the nine jurors, five are white, three are Black and two are mixed race, according to how the court says the jurors identified themselves.

The jury selection process, which began March 9 at the Hennepin County Government Center, will continue until the court decides on 14 people — 12 jurors and two alternates, Hennepin County Court director of communications Spenser Bickett told CNN.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, a former Minneapolis Police officer who is white, placed his knee on Floyd's neck for an extended period while Floyd pleaded, "I can't breathe." His final moments were captured on video, and his death led to widespread protests against police brutality and racism under the banner Black Lives Matter as well as incidents of unrest and looting.

Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. He has also pleaded not guilty to third-degree murder, which was reinstated in the case on March 11.

Opening statements are expected to start no earlier than March 29, followed by testimony that could take about four weeks.

Who was selected

The jurors all come from Hennepin County, which is demographically about 74% white and 14% Black, according to census data.

The prospective jurors have previously completed a 16-page questionnaire that asked for their personal thoughts on Black Lives Matter, policing and other topics. In court, each person is sworn in and then questioned one-by-one in a process known as voir dire. The juror's name, address and other information are kept anonymous.

Eric Nelson is questioning the prospective jurors for the defense, while Steve Schleicher is questioning them for the prosecution. Judge Peter Cahill is presiding over the trial.

Seven jurors were selected in the first four days of jury selection last week, although two of these were later excused. Two jurors were selected on Monday.

The first juror selected is a white man in his 20s or 30s who works as a chemist and said he has an analytical mind.

The second juror is a woman of color who appears to be in her 20s or 30s, according to a pool reporter's observations in court. She said she was "super excited" about getting the jury questionnaire form.

The third juror selected is a white man in his 30s who works as an auditor.

The fourth juror selected is a Black man in his 30s or 40s who moved to the U.S. 14 years ago and works in information technology. He said that he had a "somewhat negative" opinion of Chauvin, that he strongly disagreed with defunding the police and that police make him feel safe.

The fifth juror is a white woman in her 50s, according to the court. She said she has a "somewhat negative" impression of Chauvin, and believes there are biases against African Americans but not everyone in the system is bad. She said she felt empathy for Floyd as well as the officers because "at the end of the day I'm sure that the intention was not there for this to happen."

The sixth juror chosen is a Black man in his 30s, according to the court, who said he had very favorable views of Black Lives Matter. He also said he thought Chauvin had "no intention" of harming anyone, but he said he could put that opinion aside in this case.

The seventh juror selected is a white woman in her 50s, according to the court. She had a "somewhat negative" impression of Chauvin and wrote she "got the impression he didn't care about" Floyd.

The eighth juror selected is a Black man in his 40s, according to the court.

The ninth juror is a woman of multiple/mixed race in her 40s who said she has a "somewhat negative" opinion of Chauvin, but feels safe because of police in her neighborhood, the court said. The court initially incorrectly stated her race as white, but she identifies as multiple/mixed race.

The 10th juror is a white woman in her 50s who works as a nurse. She said police in her community make her feel safe, but she noted Black and minority people are not always treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

Who was excused

If the defense or prosecution believes a person cannot be impartial in the case, they can ask the court to dismiss the person for cause. Each side has unlimited challenges for cause.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys can also move to dismiss prospective jurors without cause, using what's called a peremptory challenge. Chauvin's team is allowed 18 of these challenges and the prosecution has 10. They initially were granted fewer, but Judge Cahill allowed both sides more in response to pre-trial publicity.

These peremptory challenges can themselves be challenged, though, if they are based on race, ethnicity or sex — known as a Batson challenge.

The defense has used 12 peremptory strikes and the prosecution has used six as of Thursday.

The defense has generally used its strikes on people who expressed negative views of Chauvin and positive views of Black Lives Matter, while the prosecution has generally used its strikes on white people who expressed support for police.

Two people, a Hispanic man and a white man, who had initially been selected to be on the jury were excused on Wednesday after they told the court that mid-trial news of Minneapolis's $27 million settlement with Floyd's estate affected their ability to be impartial.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Warning: This live video may contain violent and/or disturbing images. Viewer discretion is advised.

A former Minneapolis police officer went on trial Monday in the death of George Floyd, which sparked outrage across the U.S. and beyond after bystander video showed Derek Chauvin press his knee on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes as the Black man went limp.

The judge began by instructing the jury about its duties and about courtroom procedures ahead of opening statements.

A jury of 14 people will hear the case — eight who are white and six who are Black or multiracial, according to the court. Two of the 14 will be alternates. The judge has not said which ones will be alternates and which ones will deliberate the case.

Legal experts said they expected prosecutors to play the video to the jury early on.

"If you’re a prosecutor you want to start off strong. You want to frame the argument — and nothing frames the argument in this case as much as that video," said Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor and managing director of Berkeley Research Group in Chicago.

Floyd, 46, was declared dead after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. He held his position even as Floyd's "I can't breathe" cries faded and he went limp as he was handcuffed and lying on his stomach on the pavement. Chauvin, 45, is charged with unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Almost all of the jurors selected during more than two weeks of questioning said they had seen at least parts of the video, and several acknowledged it gave them at least a somewhat negative view of Chauvin. But they said they could set that aside.

Outside the courthouse Monday ahead of opening statements, Floyd family attorney Ben Crump said the trial would be a test of "whether America is going to live up to the Declaration of Independence." And he blasted the idea that it would be a tough test for jurors.

"For all those people that continue to say that this is such a difficult trial, that this is a hard trial, we refute that," he said. "We know that if George Floyd was a white American citizen, and he suffered this painful, tortuous death with a police officer’s knee on his neck, nobody, nobody, would be saying this is a hard case."

The trial is expected to last about four weeks at the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, which has been fortified with concrete barriers, fencing, and barbed and razor wire. City and state leaders are determined to prevent a repeat of damaging riots that followed Floyd’s death, and National Guard troops have already been mobilized.

The key questions at trial will be whether Chauvin caused Floyd’s death and whether his actions were reasonable.

For the unintentional second-degree murder charge, prosecutors have to prove Chauvin’s conduct was a "substantial causal factor" in Floyd’s death, and that Chauvin was committing felony assault at the time. For third-degree murder, they must prove that Chauvin’s actions caused Floyd’s death, and were reckless and without regard for human life. The manslaughter charge requires proof that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death through negligence that created an unreasonable risk.

Unintentional second-degree murder is punishable by up to 40 years in prison in Minnesota, with up to 25 years for third-degree murder, but sentencing guidelines suggest that Chauvin would face 12 1/2 years in prison if convicted on either charge. Manslaughter has a maximum 10-year sentence.

Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, was expected to use his opening statement tell jurors that medical testimony and use of force experts will show a different view. Nelson has made clear that the defense will make an issue of Floyd swallowing drugs before his arrest, seeking to convince the jury that he was at least partially responsible for his death.

The county medical examiner's autopsy noted fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, but listed his cause of death as "cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

"This case to us is a slam dunk, because we know the video is the proof, it's all you need," Floyd's brother Philonise said Monday on NBC's "Today" show. "The guy was kneeling on my brother’s neck ... a guy who was sworn in to protect. He killed my brother in broad daylight. That was a modern-day lynching."

MINNEAPOLIS —

Warning: This live video may contain violent and/or disturbing images. Viewer discretion is advised.

Court is in recess

A man who was among the onlookers shouting at a Minneapolis police officer to get off George Floyd last May testified Tuesday that he called 911 after paramedics took Floyd away, "because I believed I witnessed a murder."

Donald Williams, a former wrestler who said he was trained in mixed martial arts, including chokeholds, returned to the witness stand a day after describing seeing Floyd struggle for air and his eyes roll back into his head. He said he watched Floyd "slowly fade away ... like a fish in a bag."

Prosecutor Matthew Frank played back Williams’ 911 call, on which he is heard identifying officer Derek Chauvin by his badge number and telling the dispatcher that Chauvin had been keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck despite warnings that Floyd’s life was in danger. She offers to switch him to a sergeant.

As he is being switched, Williams can he heard yelling at the officers, "Y’all is murderers, bro!"

On Monday, Williams said he thought Chauvin used a shimmying motion several times to increase the pressure on Floyd. He said he yelled to the officer that he was cutting off Floyd’s blood supply. Williams recalled that Floyd’s voice grew thicker as his breathing became more labored, and he eventually stopped moving.

During cross-examination Tuesday, Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson sought to show that Chauvin and his fellow officers found themselves in an increasingly tense and distracting situation, with the crowd of onlookers getting agitated over Floyd's treatment.

Nelson pointed out that Williams seemed to grow increasingly angry at police on the scene, swearing at and taunting Chauvin with "tough guy," "bum" and other names, then calling Chauvin expletives, which the defense attorney repeated in court..

Williams initially admitted he was getting angrier, but then backtracked and said he was controlled and professional and was pleading for Floyd's life but wasn't being heard.

Williams said he was stepping on and off the curb, and at one point, Officer Tou Thao, who was controlling the crowd, put his hand on Williams’ chest. Williams admitted under questioning that he told Thao he would beat the officers if Thao touched him again.

Williams was among the first prosecution witnesses as Chauvin, 45, went on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death. The death of the Black man after he was held down by the white officer touched off sometimes-violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality.

Prosecutors led off their case by playing part of the harrowing bystander video of Floyd's arrest. Chauvin and three other officers were fired soon after the footage became public.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell showed the jurors the video after telling them that the number to remember was 9 minutes, 29 seconds — the amount of time Chauvin had Floyd pinned to the pavement "until the very life was squeezed out of him."

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson countered by arguing: "Derek Chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career."

Floyd was fighting efforts to put him in a squad car as the crowd of onlookers around Chauvin and his fellow officers grew and became increasingly hostile, Nelson said.

The defense attorney also disputed that Chauvin was to blame for Floyd’s death.

Floyd, 46, had none of the telltale signs of asphyxiation and had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, Nelson said. He said Floyd’s drug use, combined with his heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body, caused a heart rhythm disturbance that killed him.

"The evidence is far greater than 9 minutes and 29 seconds," Nelson said.

Blackwell, however, rejected the argument that Floyd’s drug use or any underlying health conditions were to blame, saying it was the officer's knee that killed him.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Video above: Witnesses testify in Chauvin trial

George Floyd's girlfriend cried on the witness stand Thursday as she told the story of how they first met in 2017 at a Salvation Army shelter where Floyd was a security guard with “this great Southern voice, raspy.”

“May I tell the story?” 45-year-old Courteney Ross asked on the fourth day of former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial. “It’s one of my favorite stories to tell.”

Prosecutors put her on the stand as part of an effort to humanize Floyd in front of the jury and portray him as more than a crime statistic.

Ross said she had gone to the shelter because her sons' father was staying there. She said she became upset because the father was not coming to the lobby to discuss their son's birthday. Floyd came over to check on her.

“Floyd has this great Southern voice, raspy. He was like, `Sis, you OK, sis?'” Ross recalled. “I was tired. We've been through so much, my sons and I, and (for) this kind person just to come up and say, ‘Can I pray with you?’ ... it was so sweet. At the time, I had lost a lot of faith in God."

Ross also explained that both she and Floyd struggled to overcome opioid addiction.

Minnesota is a rarity in explicitly permitting such “spark of life” testimony ahead of a verdict. Defense attorneys often complain that such testimony allows prosecutors to play on jurors' emotions.

The testimony came a day after prosecutors played extensive video footage: Security-camera scene of people joking around inside a convenience store, and bystander and police bodycam video of officers pulling Floyd from his SUV at gunpoint and struggling to put him in a squad car before they put him on the ground. It also showed Floyd being loaded into an ambulance.

Chauvin, 45, who is white, is charged with murder and manslaughter, accused of killing the 46-year-old Black man by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. The most serious charge against the now-fired officer carries up to 40 years in prison.

Floyd's struggle with three police officers trying to arrest him, seen on body-camera video, included Floyd's panicky cries of “I'm sorry, I'm sorry” and “I'm claustrophobic!” as the officers tried to push Floyd into the back of a police SUV.

At one point, Floyd bucks forward, throwing his upper body out of the car. Officers eventually give up, and Floyd thanks them — and then is taken to the ground, facedown and handcuffed. Chauvin knee pins his neck, another officer's knee holds his back and a third officer holds his legs, with the officers talking calmly about whether he might be on drugs.

“He wouldn’t get out of the car. He just wasn’t following instructions,” Officer Thomas Lane was recorded saying. Lane also asked twice if the officers should roll Floyd on his side, and later said he thinks Floyd is passing out. Another officer checked Floyd's wrist for a pulse and said he couldn’t find one.

The officers' video was part of a mountain of footage and witness testimony Wednesday showing how Floyd's alleged attempt to pass a phony $20 bill at a neighborhood market last May escalated into tragedy.

When Floyd was finally taken away by paramedics, Charles McMillian, a 61-year-old bystander who recognized Chauvin from the neighborhood, told the officer he didn't respect what Chauvin had done.

“That’s one person’s opinion," Chauvin could be heard responding. "We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy... and it looks like he’s probably on something.”

Floyd was 6-feet, 4-inches and 223 pounds, according to the autopsy, which also found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system. Chauvin's lawyer said the officer is 5-feet, 9 inches and 140 pounds.

Floyd’s death, along with the harrowing bystander video of him gasping for breath as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him, triggered sometimes violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the U.S.

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee, as prosecutors contend, but by Floyd’s illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

Events spun out of control earlier that day soon after Floyd allegedly handed a cashier at Cup Foods, 19-year-old Christopher Martin, a counterfeit bill for a pack of cigarettes.

Martin testified Wednesday that he watched Floyd’s arrest outside with “disbelief -- and guilt.”

“If I would’ve just not tooken the bill, this could’ve been avoided,” Martin lamented, joining the burgeoning list of witnesses who expressed a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt over Floyd's death.

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin faces sentencing Friday in the death of George Floyd, with a judge weighing a prison term experts say could be as much as 30 years.

Chauvin, 45, was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for pressing his knee against Floyd's neck for about 9 1/2 minutes as the Black man said he couldn't breathe. It was an act captured on bystander video, which prompted protests around the world.

Before the sentencing hearing Friday, Judge Peter Cahill denied Chauvin's request for a new trial, saying defense attorney Eric Nelson has not shown that the court abused its discretion or that there was any prosecutorial misconduct that would have deprived Chauvin of his right to a fair trial. Nelson argued that intense publicity around Floyd’s death tainted the jury pool and that the trial should have been moved away from Minneapolis.

Here's what to watch for in a hearing that could run as long as two hours:

What's possible?

Under Minnesota statutes, Chauvin will be sentenced only on the most serious charge of second-degree murder. That's because all of the charges against him stem from one act, with one victim.

The max for that charge is 40 years, but legal experts have said there's no way he'll get that much. Case law dictates the practical maximum Chauvin could face is 30 years — double what the high end of state sentencing guidelines suggest. Anything above that risks being overturned on appeal.

Of course, Cahill could sentence Chauvin to much less. Prosecutors have asked for 30 years, while Nelson is seeking probation.

Mark Osler, a professor at University of St. Thomas School of Law, said both sides have staked out extreme positions, and the "gulf is huge between them. I don't think that either side is going to end up getting what they want."

What's realistic?

Minnesota has sentencing guidelines that were created to establish consistent sentences that don't consider factors such as race or gender. For second-degree unintentional murder, the guideline range for someone with no criminal record goes from 10 years and eight months to up to 15 years. The presumptive sentence is in the middle, at 12 1/2 years.

Cahill last month agreed with prosecutors that aggravating factors in Floyd's death warrant going higher than the guidelines. The judge found that Chauvin abused his position of authority, treated Floyd with particular cruelty, and that the crime was seen by several children. He also wrote that Chauvin knew the restraint of Floyd was dangerous.

"The prolonged use of this technique was particularly egregious in that George Floyd made it clear he was unable to breathe and expressed the view that he was dying as a result of the officers' restraint," Cahill wrote last month.

Osler said Cahill's finding of aggravating factors showed his willingness to go above the guidelines. But he said those guidelines still function like a tether, and the further Cahill moves from the guidelines, the more the tether stretches. He said a 20 or 25-year sentence is more likely than 30.

Joe Friedberg, a Minneapolis defense attorney who has been watching the case, agreed. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court case, Koon v. United States, in which the court said a judge could consider that a former police officer would likely spend much of his sentence in isolation for his own safety. Cahill might take the harder time into consideration to give Chauvin a little less, Friedberg said.

What's happened before?

Minnesota sentencing data for the five years through 2019 show that of 112 people sentenced for the same conviction as Chauvin, only two got maximum 40-year sentences. Both cases involved children who died due to abuse; both defendants had prior criminal records and struck plea deals.

The longest sentence during that time period for someone with no criminal history like Chauvin was 36 years, in another case involving the death of a child due to abuse. The sentence was appealed but upheld, with an appellate court finding it "was not excessive when a 13-month-old child was beaten to death."

What's expected at the hearing?

Attorneys on both sides are expected to make brief arguments. Victims or family members of victims can also make statements about how they've been affected, but none have said publicly that they will.

Chauvin can talk if he wants, but it's not clear if he will. Experts say it could be tricky for Chauvin to talk without implicating himself in a pending federal case accusing him of violating Floyd's civil rights.

While some experts say Chauvin won't talk, Mike Brandt, another defense attorney watching the case, said he thinks Chauvin will speak, and that he can say a few words without getting himself into legal trouble. "If I was him, I think I would want to try and let people know that I'm not a monster."

Community members can submit impact statements online, and they may become part of the public record.

What will the judge consider?

Cahill will look at arguments submitted by both sides, as well as victim impact statements, community impact statements, a pre-sentence investigation into Chauvin's past, and any statement Chauvin might make.

When judges hear from defendants, they are typically looking to see if the person takes responsibility for the crime or shows remorse. Friedberg, the defense attorney, said he doubts any statement from Chauvin would affect Cahill's sentence.

"In state court sentencing in Minnesota it just doesn't seem to matter to the judges what anybody says at the time of sentencing," Friedberg said. "When they come out on the bench they will have already decided what the sentence will be."

How long will Chauvin actually serve behind bars?

No matter what sentence Chauvin gets, in Minnesota it's presumed that a defendant with good behavior will serve two-thirds in prison and the rest on supervised release, commonly known as parole.

That means if Chauvin is sentenced to 30 years, he would likely serve 20 behind bars, as long as he causes no problems in prison. Once on supervised release, he could be sent back to prison if he violates conditions of his parole.

Since his April conviction, Chauvin has been held at the state's only maximum security prison, in Oak Park Heights. That's unusual — people don't typically go to a prison while waiting for sentencing — but Chauvin is there for security reasons. He has been on "administrative segregation" for his safety and has been in a 10 foot-by-10 foot cell, away from the general population. He has meals brought to his room, and is allowed out for solitary exercise for an average of one hour a day.

It wasn't immediately clear where he would serve his time after he is sentenced. The Department of Corrections will place Chauvin after Cahill's formal sentencing order commits Chauvin to its custody.

MINNEAPOLIS —

A Minneapolis police supervisory sergeant who was on duty the night George Floyd died testified that he believes the officers who restrained Floyd could have ended it after he stopped resisting.

David Pleoger testified Thursday at the trial of since-fired officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death. He noted that 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,” Pleoger said.

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

“Correct,” replied Ploeger, now retired.

Chauvin, 45 and white, is accused of killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.

His death triggered large protests around the U.S., scattered violence and widespread soul-searching over racism and police brutality. The most serious charge against Chauvin carries up to 40 years in prison.

Thursday's testimony began with Floyd’s girlfriend tearfully telling the jury how they met in 2017 — at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with “this great, deep Southern voice, raspy” — and 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,” 45-year-old Courteney Ross said.

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

Prosecutors put Ross on the stand in an effort to humanize Floyd in front of the jury and portray him as more than a crime statistic, and also explain his drug use.

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

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

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.

In March 2020, Ross drove Floyd to the emergency room because he was in extreme stomach pain, and she learned he had overdosed. In the months that followed, Ross said, she and Floyd spent a lot of time together during the coronavirus quarantine, and Floyd was clean.

But she suspected he began using again about two weeks before his death because his behavior changed: She said there would be times when he would be up and bouncing around, and other times when he would be unintelligible.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson drove hard at Floyd’s drug use in cross-examining Ross, asking questions aimed at showing the danger of overdose and death.

Under questioning from Nelson, Ross also disclosed that Floyd’s pet name for her in his phone was “Mama” — testimony that called into question the widely reported account that Floyd was crying out for his mother as he lay pinned to the pavement.

Also Thursday, a paramedic who arrived on the scene that day testified that the first call was a Code 2, for someone with a mouth injury, but it was upgraded a minute and a half later to Code 3 — a life-threatening incident that led them to turn on the lights and siren.

Seth Bravinder said he saw no signs that Floyd was breathing or moving, and it appeared he was in cardiac arrest. A second paramedic, Derek Smith, testified that he checked for a pulse and couldn't detect one: “In layman’s terms? I thought he was dead.”

Bravinder said they loaded Floyd into the ambulance so he could get care “in an optimum environment,” but also because bystanders “appeared very upset on the sidewalk,” and there was some yelling. “In my mind at least, we wanted to get away from that,” he said.

Chauvin's lawyer has argued that the police on the scene were distracted by what they perceived as a growing and increasingly hostile crowd. Video showed around 15 onlookers near where Floyd lay.

Bravinder said after he drove the ambulance three blocks and jumped in back to help his partner, a monitor showed Floyd's heart was not beating. He said they were never able to restore a pulse.

On cross-examination, Chauvin’s lawyer questioned why the ambulance did not go straight to the hospital, and he pressed Smith on Floyd’s condition as he lay on the pavement. The paramedic expressed himself in blunt terms, saying Floyd was “dead” or “deceased.”

Ross began her testimony by telling how she and Floyd met at a shelter where Floyd was a security guard.

“May I tell the story?” she asked. “It’s one of my favorite stories to tell.”

She said she had gone to the shelter because her sons’ father was staying there. But she got upset that day because the father was not coming to the lobby to discuss their son’s birthday. Floyd came over to check on her.

“Floyd has this great, deep Southern voice, raspy,” Ross recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Sis, you OK, sis?’ And I wasn’t OK. I was like, ‘No, I’m just waiting for my sons’ father.’ He said, ‘Can I pray with you?’”

“This kind person, just to come up to me and say, ‘Can I pray with you?’ when I felt alone in this lobby, it was so sweet,” she said.

Minnesota is a rarity in explicitly permitting such “spark of life” testimony about a crime victim at trial. Defense attorneys often contend such testimony allows prosecutors to play on jurors’ emotions.

Video above: Chauvin trial ends 1st week of testimony

The trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd's death is expected to turn toward the officer's training on Monday after a first week that was dominated by emotional testimony from eyewitnesses and devastating video of Floyd's arrest.

Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of Floyd. Chauvin, who is white, is accused of pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside of a corner market.

Prosecutors say Chauvin's knee killed Floyd. The defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd's use of drugs and underlying health conditions caused his death.

Floyd's treatment by police was captured on widely seen bystander video that soon sparked protests that rocked Minneapolis and quickly spread to other U.S. cities and beyond. The video, plus officers' body-camera video and previously unseen bystander footage, was a heavy component of the first week of the trial, reawakening traumatic memories for viewers of the livestreamed trial.

Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is expected to testify during the trial's second week, perhaps as early as Monday. Arradondo, the city's first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd's death, and in June called it “murder.”

“Mr. George Floyd's tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there,” Arradondo said then. “Chauvin knew what he was doing.”

The city moved soon after Floyd's death to ban police chokeholds and neck restraints. Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey have also made several policy changes, including expanding requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents and documenting their attempts to de-escalate situations even when force isn't used.

Prosecutors have already called supervisory officers to build the case that Chauvin improperly restrained Floyd. A duty sergeant and a lieutenant who leads the homicide division both questioned Chauvin's actions in pinning Floyd after officers responded to a report that Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill.

“Totally unnecessary,” Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-tenured officer on the force, testified Friday. He said once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw “no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger, if that’s what they felt, and that’s what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force."

Zimmerman, who joined the department in 1985, said he has never been trained to kneel on someone's neck if their hands are cuffed behind their back and they are in the prone position. Officers are supposed to get a person out of the position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing, he said.

Instead, officers continued to restrain Floyd until an ambulance arrived — even after he became unresponsive.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson peppered Zimmerman with questions about the threat a handcuffed suspect might still pose, as well as whether handcuffs might fail. Nelson has also suggested that bystanders shouting at police might have distracted them from Floyd and made them feel threatened.

Jurors heard several days of testimony from those bystanders, several choking up as they recalled feeling powerless to help Floyd and guilt over his death.

Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter who came on the scene as she was out for a walk, said she immediately recognized Floyd was in trouble and tried to offer help. Instead, Officer Tou Thao ordered her to stay on the sidewalk. Hansen, who was mostly stoic while testifying, was overcome as she recalled her frustration.

“There was a man being killed,” she said. “I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right.”

Warning: This live video may contain violent and/or disturbing images with strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd's neck — and was bearing down with most of his weight — the entire time the Black man lay facedown with his hands cuffed behind his back, a use-of-force expert testified Wednesday at Chauvin's murder trial.

Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution witness, said that based on his review of video evidence, Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck from the time officers put Floyd on the ground until paramedics arrived — about 9 1/2 minutes, by prosecutors' reckoning.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher showed jurors a composite image of five photos taken from various videos of the arrest. Stiger went through each photo, saying it appeared that the Minneapolis officer's left knee was on Floyd’s neck or neck area in each one.

"That particular force did not change during the entire restraint period?" Schleicher asked.

"Correct," Stiger replied.

Stiger also said Chauvin squeezed Floyd's fingers and pulled one of his wrists toward his handcuffs, a technique that uses pain to get someone to comply, but did not appear to let up while Floyd was restrained.

"Then at that point it’s just pain," Stiger said.

Stiger's testimony came a day after Chauvin 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 also has suggested that bystanders who were yelling at Chauvin to get off Floyd distracted the officers, who perceived the onlookers as an increasingly hostile crowd. On Tuesday, the defense attorney got some police witnesses to acknowledge that jeering onlookers can make it more difficult for officers to do their duty.

But Stiger told Schleicher, "I did not perceive them as being a threat," even though some onlookers were name-calling and using foul language. He added that most of the yelling was due to "their concern for Mr. Floyd."

During cross-examination, Nelson noted that dispatchers had described Floyd as between 6 feet and 6-foot-6 and possibly under the influence. Stiger agreed it was reasonable for Chauvin to come to the scene with a heightened sense of awareness.

Stiger also agreed with Nelson that an officer’s actions must be viewed from the point of view of a reasonable officer on the scene, not in hindsight.

It was Stiger's second day on the stand. On Tuesday, he testified that officers were justified in using force while Floyd was resisting their efforts to put him in a squad car. But once Floyd was on the ground and stopped resisting, officers "should have slowed down or stopped their force as well."

Stiger said that after reviewing video of the arrest, "my opinion was that the force was excessive."

Several experienced officers, including the police chief himself, have taken the stand as part of an effort by prosecutors to dismantle the argument that Chauvin was doing what he was trained to do when restrained Floyd last May.

According to testimony and records submitted Tuesday, Chauvin took a 40-hour course in 2016 on how to recognize people in crisis — including those suffering mental problems or the effects of drug use — and how to use de-escalation techniques to calm them down.

Sgt. Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of crisis-intervention training, said officers are taught to "slow things down and re-evaluate and reassess."

Records show Chauvin also underwent training in the use of force in 2018. Lt. Johnny Mercil, a Minneapolis police use-of-force train, testified that those who attended were taught that the sanctity of life is a cornerstone of departmental policy and that officers must use the least amount of force required to get a suspect to comply.

Under cross-examination by Nelson, Mercil testified that officers are trained in some situations to use their knee across a suspect’s back or shoulder and employ their body weight to maintain control.

But Mercil added: "We tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible."

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 him, not Chauvin’s knee.

Nelson showed Mercil several images taken from officers’ body-camera videos, asking after each one whether it showed Chauvin’s knee appearing to rest more on Floyd’s back, shoulder or shoulder blades than directly on Floyd’s neck. Mercil often agreed.

Nelson acknowledged the images were difficult to make out. They were taken at different moments during Floyd’s arrest, starting about four minutes after he was first pinned to the ground, according to time stamps on the images.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. Floyd, 46, was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A panicky-sounding Floyd writhed and claimed to be claustrophobic as police tried to put him in the squad car.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at Chauvin sparked protests around the U.S. that descended into violence in some cases.

Instead of closing ranks to protect a fellow officer behind what has been dubbed the "blue wall of silence," some of the most experienced members of the Minneapolis force have taken the stand to openly condemn Chauvin’s actions as excessive.

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Mich.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Warning: This live video may contain violent and/or disturbing images with strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from the way he was held down by police, a retired forensic pathologist testified Friday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial.

The testimony of Lindsey Thomas, who retired in 2017 from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office in Minneapolis, bolstered the accounts of other experts on Thursday who rejected the defense theory that Floyd’s drug use and underlying health problems killed him.

Thomas did not work on Floyd's case but agreed with the findings of her former colleague Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker that Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by the way law enforcement restrained him and compressed his neck.

But she went further in saying "the primary mechanism of death is asphyxia, or low oxygen."

"This is a death where both the heart and lungs stopped working. The point is, it's due to law enforcement subdual, restraint and compression," Thomas said. "The activities of the law enforcement officers resulted in Mr. Floyd’s death."

Thomas said she reached her conclusion primarily from the video, which showed Floyd "in a position where he was unable to adequately breathe.”

The autopsy itself ruled out heart attack, aneurysm, COVID-19 and other factors, and Thomas said the video showed it was not a fentanyl overdose death.

Her testimony came a day after other medical experts also said Floyd died of a lack of oxygen.

"A healthy person subjected to what Mr. Floyd was subjected to would have died," prosecution witness Dr. Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and Loyola University’s medical school in Illinois, testified Thursday.

Tobin said the lack of oxygen resulted in brain damage and caused Floyd's heart to stop.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25 after kneeling on him for what prosecutors say was 9 1/2 minutes. Floyd was arrested outside a neighborhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at the white officer to get off him sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s death was caused by illegal drugs and underlying medical problems, including high blood pressure and heart disease. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.

Using easy-to-understand language to explain medical concepts and even loosening his necktie to illustrate a point, Tobin told the jury that Floyd's breathing was severely constricted while Chauvin and two other Minneapolis officers held the 46-year-old Black man down on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind him and his face jammed against the ground.

Tobin, analyzing images of the three officers restraining Floyd for what prosecutors say was almost 9 1/2 minutes, testified that Chauvin's knee was “virtually on the neck” more than 90% of the time.

He said several other factors also made it difficult for Floyd to breathe: officers lifting up on the suspect's handcuffs, the hard pavement, his prone position, his turned head and a knee on his back.

Tobin also testified that just because Floyd was talking and can be seen moving on video doesn't mean he was breathing adequately. He said a leg movement seen in the footage was an involuntary sign of a fatal brain injury, and that a person can continue to speak until the airway narrows to 15%, after which "you are in deep trouble."

Officers can be heard on video telling Floyd that if he can talk, he can breathe.

Related video: Derek Chauvin's trial attorney aims to raise doubtThe trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd 's death enters its third week Monday, with the state nearing the end of a case built on searing witness accounts, official rejections of the neck restraint and expert testimony attributing Floyd's death to a lack of oxygen.Derek Chauvin, 45, who is white, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s May 25 death. Police were called to a neighborhood market where Floyd, who was Black, was accused of trying to pass a counterfeit bill. Bystander video of Floyd, pinned by Chauvin and two other officers as he cried “I can't breathe” and eventually grew still, sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson argues that Floyd's death was caused by drug use and underlying health conditions including a bad heart. He's expected to call his own medical experts after the prosecution wraps its case, expected early this week. Nelson hasn't said whether Chauvin will testify.The second week of the trial was dominated by technical testimony, beginning with senior Minneapolis Police Department officials, including Chief Medaria Arradondo, testifying that Chauvin's restraint of Floyd violated department policy.Prosecutors say Floyd was pinned for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. Police officials testified that while officers might sometimes use a knee across a person's back or shoulder to gain or maintain control, they're also taught the specific dangers for a person in Floyd's position — prone on his stomach, with his hands cuffed behind him — and how such a person must be turned into a side recovery position as soon as possible.Prosecutors called a string of medical experts to testify that Floyd died due to a lack of oxygen, led by Dr. Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist who walked jurors through graphics and charts and had them feel their own necks as he analyzed evidence from videos. Tobin testified that other factors, not just Chauvin's knee, made it hard for Floyd to breathe: officers lifting up his handcuffs, the hard pavement, his turned head and a knee on his back. He pinpointed the moment when he said he could see Floyd take his last breath — and said Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck another 3 minutes, 2 seconds.“At the beginning, you can see he’s conscious, you can see slight flickering, and then it disappears,” Tobin said as he highlighted a still image from police body-camera video. “That’s the moment the life goes out of his body.”Nelson sought to raise doubt about the prosecution's case. During testimony about Chauvin's use of the neck restraint, he sought to point out moments in video footage when he said Chauvin's knee didn't appear to be on Floyd's neck. And he again questioned officers about how a gathering crowd might affect officers' use of force.A potential gap in prosecutors' case appeared Friday when Hennepin County's chief medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, testified that the way police held Floyd down and compressed his neck “was just more than Mr. Floyd could take” given his heart issues.Baker didn't attribute Floyd's death to asphyxia, as several prosecution medical experts did. And while he said that neither Floyd’s heart problems nor drugs caused his death, he agreed with Nelson that those factors “played a role” in the death.Ted Sampsell-Jones, a law professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, said Baker's testimony might raise a reasonable doubt about cause of death, but that the legal standard for establishing causation is quite low. The state has to show only that Chauvin’s conduct was a substantial contributing cause.“If the state had to show that Chauvin’s conduct was the sole or even primary cause of death, the case would be in real trouble,” Sampsell-Jones said.

MINNEAPOLIS —

The defense for a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death was set to start presenting its case Tuesday, following 11 days of a prosecution narrative that combined wrenching video with clinical analysis by medical and use-of-force experts to condemn Derek Chauvin's actions.

Prosecutors called their final witnesses Monday, leaving only some administrative matters before they were expected to rest Tuesday. Once the defense takes over, Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson is expected to have his own experts testify that it was Floyd's drug use and bad heart, not Chauvin's actions, that killed him.

The defense hasn't said whether Chauvin will take the stand.

Prosecutors effectively wrapped up their case with George Floyd's younger brother, alternately smiling and tearing up as he recalled Floyd, followed by another look at the harrowing video and testimony from a use-of-force expert who said Chauvin's actions were clearly unreasonable.

Seth Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, judged Chauvin's actions against what a reasonable police officer in the same situation would have done, and repeatedly found that Chauvin did not meet the test.

"No reasonable officer would have believed that that was an appropriate, acceptable or reasonable use of force," Stoughton said of the way Floyd was held facedown with a knee across his neck for up to 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

He said, too, that the failure to roll Floyd over and render aid "as his increasing medical distress became obvious" was unreasonable.

He said it was unreasonable as well to think that Floyd might harm officers or escape after he had been handcuffed to the ground. And in yet another blow to Chauvin's defense, Stoughton said a reasonable officer would not have viewed the yelling bystanders as a threat.

The matter of what is reasonable carries great weight: Police officers are allowed certain latitude to use deadly force when someone puts the officer or other people in danger. But legal experts say a key question for the jury will be whether Chauvin's actions were reasonable in those specific circumstances.

On cross-examination, Nelson questioned Stoughton's opinion that putting Floyd on his stomach in the first place was itself unreasonable and excessive.

"Reasonable minds can disagree, agreed?" Nelson asked.

"On this particular point, no," the witness said.

Earlier Monday, Philonise Floyd, 39, took the witness stand and lovingly recalled how his older brother used to make the best banana mayonnaise sandwiches, how George drilled him in catching a football, and the way George used to mark his height on the wall as a boy because he wanted to grow taller.

He shed tears as he was shown a picture of his late mother and a young George, saying, "I miss both of them."

His testimony at Chauvin's murder trial was part of an effort by prosecutors to humanize George Floyd in front of the jury and make the 46-year-old Black man more than a crime statistic. Minnesota is a rarity in allowing "spark of life" testimony during the trial stage.

Philonise Floyd described growing up in a poor area of Houston with George and their other siblings.

He said Floyd played football and deliberately threw the ball at different angles so Philonise would have to practice diving for it. "I always thought my brother couldn't throw. But he never intended to throw the ball to me," he said, smiling.

Earlier Monday, Judge Peter Cahill rejected a defense request to immediately sequester the jury, the morning after the killing of a Black man during a traffic stop triggered unrest in a suburb just outside Minneapolis.

Chauvin's attorney had argued that the jurors could be influenced by the prospect of what might happen as a result of their verdict.

But the judge said he will not sequester the jury until next Monday, when he expects closing arguments to begin. He also denied a defense request to question jurors about what they might have seen about Sunday's police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center.

The Brooklyn Center police chief later called the shooting accidental, saying the officer who fired apparently meant to draw a Taser, not a handgun.

Stoughton, the use-of-force expert, said the officers who subdued Floyd should have known he was not trying to attack them when he struggled and frantically said he was claustrophobic as they tried to put him in a squad car.

"I don't see him presenting a threat of anything," Stoughton said, adding that no reasonable officer would conclude otherwise.

Stoughton also pointed to instances when Chauvin should have been aware of Floyd's growing distress: After one officer suggested rolling Floyd onto his side, Chauvin said no. The 19-year police veteran ignored bystanders who were shouting that Floyd was not responsive. And when another officer said Floyd didn't have a pulse, Stoughton said, Chauvin's response was "Huh."

Mike Brandt, a local defense attorney closely watching the case, said Philonise Floyd's testimony was irrelevant to whether Chauvin caused Floyd's death, "but it certainly plays on the sympathy of the jury." He said Stoughton's testimony gave prosecutors an opportunity to leave the jury "with one more image of the video" of Floyd pleading for his life.

"It was the parting shot by the state," Brandt said.

Earlier Monday, Dr. Jonathan Rich, a cardiology expert from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, echoed previous witnesses in saying Floyd died of low oxygen levels from the way he was held down by police.

He rejected defense theories that Floyd died of a drug overdose or a heart condition. Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, high blood pressure and narrowing of the heart arteries, according to previous testimony.

"It was the truly the prone restraint and positional restraints that led to his asphyxiation," Rich said.

In fact, the expert said, "Every indicator is that Mr. Floyd had actually an exceptionally strong heart."

On cross-examination, Nelson tried to shift blame onto Floyd, asking if Floyd would have survived had he "simply gotten in the back seat of the squad car."

But Rich rejected that line of argument: "Had he not been restrained in the way in which he was, I think he would have survived that day. I think he would have gone home, or wherever he was going to go."

___

Find AP's full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

The attorney for the former officer charged with killing George Floyd says several studies suggest police can safely use their body weight to hold a handcuffed suspect facedown on the ground — or prone — as Floyd was in the last minutes of his life.

But those findings aren't universally accepted and have been contradicted by a parade of law enforcement and medical experts central to prosecutors’ efforts to convict Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter.

On Wednesday, a forensic pathologist testified that Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease, which contradicted prosecutors' expert testimony that said Floyd's death was caused by a lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned down.

Dr. David Fowler, a former Maryland chief medical examiner who is now with a consulting firm, said Wednesday the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system, and possibly carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust, were contributing factors in the 46-year-old Black man's death last May.

“All of those combined to cause Mr. Floyd’s death,” he said on the second day of the defense case.

Fowler also testified that he would classify the manner of death “undetermined,” rather than homicide, as the county's chief medical examiner ruled. He said Floyd's death had too many conflicting factors, some of which could be ruled homicide and some that could be considered accidental.

Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson is trying to prove that the 19-year Minneapolis police veteran did what he was trained to do and that Floyd died because of his illegal drug use and underlying health problems.

Prosecutors say Floyd died because the white officer's knee was pressed against Floyd’s neck or neck area for 9 1/2 minutes as he lay on the pavement on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind him and his face jammed against the ground.

Fowler listed a multitude of factors or potential ones: Floyd’s narrowed arteries, his enlarged heart, his high blood pressure, his drug use, the stress of his restraint, the vehicle exhaust, and a tumor or growth in his lower abdomen that can sometimes play a role in high blood pressure by releasing “fight-or-flight” hormones.

Fowler said all of those factors could have acted together to cause Floyd’s heart to work harder, suffer an arrhythmia, or abnormal rhythm, and suddenly stop.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell launched an aggressive cross-examination, attacking Fowler's findings down the line. He got Fowler to acknowledge that even someone who dies from being deprived of oxygen ultimately dies of an arrhythmia.

He also got Fowler to admit that he didn’t take the weight of Chauvin’s gear into account when he analyzed the pressure on Floyd’s body. Blackwell further accused Fowler of jumping to conclusions and suggesting to the jury that Floyd had a white pill in his mouth in the video of his arrest. Fowler denied saying that.

Bystander and surveillance camera video shows Floyd on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, pinned to the ground by three officers.

Chauvin was closest to Floyd's head, and a use-of-force expert testified that Chauvin applied pressure to Floyd's neck area for 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

Nelson suggested Chauvin's knee was not on Floyd's neck for that entire time but moved to his upper back, shoulder blades and arm.

Medical experts testified for the prosecution that the prone position cuts lung volume, reduces oxygen levels and makes it harder to breathe.

They also pointed to Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck, his body being pressed against the hard asphalt and his head being turned to the side as factors that prevented Floyd from breathing, resulting in his death.

Nelson leaned on studies conducted by doctors at the University of California San Diego that concluded prone positions are not inherently risky.

Prosecutors also attacked Fowler's testimony about carbon monoxide, which displaces oxygen in the bloodstream.

In his original testimony, Fowler said carbon monoxide could have contributed to oxygen depletion in Floyd, noting that he was facing the tailpipe end of a squad car. But Floyd's blood was never tested for carbon monoxide.

“You haven’t seen any data or test results that showed Mr. Floyd had a single injury from carbon monoxide. Is that true?” Blackwell asked.

“That is correct, because it was never sent,” Fowler said.

Blackwell also noted that the squad car was a gas-electric hybrid and that Fowler had no data on how much carbon monoxide was actually released. And he suggested that the witness assumed the engine was running at the time. Fowler said he believed it was.

The prosecutor also got Fowler to agree that it would take four minutes to cause irreversible brain damage if the brain is starved of oxygen, and that insufficient oxygen can cause the heart to stop.

"And if a person dies as a result of low oxygen, that person is also going to die ultimately of a fatal arrhythmia, right?” Blackwell asked.

Fowler responded: “Correct. Every one of us in this room will have a fatal arrhythmia at some point.”

Fowler further agreed that Floyd should have been given immediate attention when he went into cardiac arrest because there still was a chance to save him at that point.

A number of medical experts called by prosecutors have said Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because his breathing was constricted by the way he was held down. A cardiology expert rejected the notion that Floyd died of heart problems, saying all indications were that he had "an exceptionally strong heart.”

But Fowler said that Chauvin’s knee on Floyd was “nowhere close to his airway” and that Floyd’s speaking and groaning showed that his airway was still open. He also testified that Chauvin’s knee was not applied with enough pressure to cause any bruises or scrapes on Floyd’s neck or back.

And he said that Floyd did not complain of vision changes or other symptoms consistent with hypoxia, or insufficient oxygen to the brain and that he was coherent until shortly before he suddenly stopped moving.

“The bottom line is, moving air in and out, and speaking and making noise is very good evidence that the airway was not closed,” Fowler said.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death after his arrest on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 at a neighborhood market. The video of Floyd gasping that he couldn't breathe as bystanders yelled at Chauvin to get off him triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious examination of racism and policing in the U.S.

The defense hasn’t said whether Chauvin will take the stand.

Kathleen Foody contributed to this report.

One hundred officers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol are in Minneapolis, assisting patrol as a jury deliberates the case against former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd.The officers will assist with protests and potential unrest as the trial concludes. Ohio sent the troopers at the request of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota State Patrol."When you're dealing with protests of this type, typically there aren't issues,” said Lt. Craig Cvetan with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. “When there are, we deal with the issues and handle those issues. Ultimately, our goal is to provide a safe environment for people to voice their opinion, and also to protect the property we're assigned to protect."Cvetan was unable to say how long Ohio troopers will be needed in the state, adding much of it depends on what unfolds over the next few days with the Chauvin verdict.Click here for the latest in the trial.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Warning: The above video may contain violent and/or disturbing images with strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

The jury reached a verdict Tuesday at the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, the Black man who was pinned to the pavement with a knee on his neck in a case that set off a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S.

The verdict, arrived at after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days, was to be read late in the afternoon in a city on edge against the possibility of more unrest like that that erupted last spring.

The courthouse was ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire, and thousands of National Guardsmen and other law enforcement officers were brought in ahead of the verdict.

Floyd died last May after Chauvin, a 45-year-old now-fired white officer, pinned his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes.

The jury, made up of six white people and six Black or multiracial people, weighed charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, with convictions on some, none or all of the charges possible. The most serious charge carries up to 40 years in prison.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, President Joe Biden weighed in by saying he believes the case is "overwhelming." Other politicians and ordinary citizens also offered their opinion.

"It shouldn't be really even questioned whether there will be an acquittal or a verdict that doesn’t meet the scale of the crime that was committed," Rep. Ilhan Omar said in Brooklyn Center, a suburb just outside Minneapolis. The congresswoman said the Chauvin case looks open-and-shut.

Guilty verdicts could mark a turning point in the fight for racial equality, she said.

"We are holding on to one another for support. Hopefully this verdict will come soon and the community will start the process of healing," Omar said.

In Washington, the president said that he had spoken to Floyd's family on Monday and "can only imagine the pressure and anxiety they’re feeling."

"They're a good family and they're calling for peace and tranquility no matter what that verdict is," Biden said. "I'm praying the verdict is the right verdict. I think it's overwhelming, in my view. I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered now."

The president has repeatedly denounced Floyd's death but previously stopped short of commenting on the trial itself.

Ahead of a verdict, some stores were boarded up in Minneapolis, the courthouse was ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire, and National Guard troops were on patrol. Last spring, Floyd’s death set off protests along with vandalism and arson in Minneapolis.

The city has also been on edge in recent days over the deadly police shooting of a 20-year-old Black man, Daunte Wright, in Brooklyn Center on April 11.

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan. Associated Press video journalist Angie Wang in Atlanta and Associated Press writers Doug Glass, in Minneapolis, Mohamed Ibrahim in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.

WASHINGTON —

Before Tuesday's guilty verdicts were read out, President Joe Biden said he was praying for "the right verdict" in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.

Telephoning George Floyd's family later, he said of himself and Vice President Kamala Harris: "We're all so relieved."

Chauvin was convicted of two counts of murder and one of manslaughter in the death of Floyd, a case that sparked a national reckoning on race and policing.

Biden said he hoped the verdict would give momentum to congressional police reform efforts.

Floyd family attorney Ben Crump posted video on Twitter of a phone call from Biden and Harris to the family. Asked by a family member how he was doing, Biden said, "Feeling better now. Nothing is going to make it all better, but at least now there is some justice."

"This is a day of justice," Harris told the family after joining Biden to watch the verdict in the private dining room off the Oval Office.

Speaking hours ahead of the verdict, while the jury was deliberating in Minneapolis, Biden said he called Floyd’s family on Monday to offer prayers and could "only imagine the pressure and anxiety they're feeling." The president was expected to address the outcome of the trial Tuesday evening.

"They're a good family and they're calling for peace and tranquility no matter what that verdict is," Biden said a few hours before the verdicts were announced. "I'm praying the verdict is the right verdict. I think it's overwhelming, in my view. I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered now."

Biden said he was only weighing in on the trial into the death of Floyd, who died with Chauvin's knee on his neck, because the jury in the case had already been sequestered.

The president has repeatedly denounced Floyd's death but had previously stopped short of weighing in on Chauvin's trial, with White House officials saying it would be improper to speak out during active judicial proceedings. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to explain Biden's comments, doing nothing to dispel the impression that he thought Chauvin should be found guilty.

The White House has been privately weighing how to handle the verdict, including whether Biden should address the nation and dispatching specially trained community facilitators from the Justice Department, aides and officials told The Associated Press. With word that a verdict had been reached Tuesday afternoon, Biden postponed planned remarks at the White House on his infrastructure package.

Biden's Tuesday comments came a day after Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the trial, admonished public officials about speaking out.

"I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that’s disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function," he said shortly after sending the jury to begin deliberations.

Defense attorneys often cite remarks made by public officials as a reason to appeal a verdict, in part because they could poison the jury against the defendant.

Cahill delivered his rebuke after rejecting a defense request for a mistrial based in part on comments from California Rep. Maxine Waters, who said "we've got to get more confrontational" if Chauvin isn’t convicted of murder. He conceded to Chauvin's attorneys that Waters' comments could potentially be grounds for an appeal.

On Monday, Cahill ordered that jurors be sequestered in an undisclosed hotel during their deliberations and instructed them to avoid all news about the case.

Despite Cahill’s remarks, Brock Hunter, a criminal defense attorney and past president of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he considered a successful appeal over remarks like Waters' and Biden's extremely unlikely.

"It's inevitable that public officials are going to comment on a case and its impacts on communities," he said. "Unless there is direct evidence that statements by a public official directly impacted a juror or jurors, I don’t think this even gets off the ground."

Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, told NBC's "Today" show that Biden "knows how it is to lose a family member ... so he was just letting us know that he was praying for us and hoping that everything would come out to be OK."

On Capitol Hill, Republicans as well as Democrats said they were relived at the verdict and predicted it could give momentum to policing reform legislation that has been proposed in both the House and Senate.

"I think the verdict just reinforces that our justice system continues to become more just," said Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican senator. "This is a monumental day in many ways, in my opinion."

The Congressional Black Caucus watched the verdict together in the Capitol, and members hugged and fist pumped after the verdict was read.

"The room was filled with emotion and gratitude," said Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson. "Black lives mattered to this jury. And I'm very gratified at the verdict, very happy at the swiftness of the verdict. ... It's a vindication of justice in America."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the Black Caucus shortly afterward at a news conference outside, where she said she had spoken to Floyd's family just before the verdict. She said she called "to say to them, 'Thank you, God bless you, for your grace and your dignity, for the model that you are appealing for justice in the most dignified way.'"

"Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice," Pelosi said. "Because of you, and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice."

The verdict — and the aftermath — will be a test for Biden, who has pledged to help combat racism in policing, helping African Americans who supported him in large numbers last year in the wake of protests that swept the nation after Floyd’s death and restarted a national conversation about race. But he also has long projected himself as an ally of police, who are struggling with criticism about long-used tactics and training methods and difficulties in recruitment.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Doug Glass, and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.