MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Officer Derek Chauvin "had to know" he was squeezing the life out of George Floyd as the Black man cried over and over that he couldn't breathe and finally fell silent, a prose cutor told the jury Monday during closing arguments at Chauvin's murder trial. "Use your common sense. Believe your eyes. What you saw, you saw," Steve Schleicher said, referring to the excruciating bystander video of Floyd pinned to the pavement with Chauvin's knee on or close to his neck last May for up to 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as bystanders yelled at the white officer to get off. Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson countered by arguing that Chauvin did what any "reasonable" police officer would have done after find ing himself in a "dynamic" and "fluid" situation involv ing a large man struggling with three police officers. As Nelson began speaking, the now fired Chauvin removed his COVID 19 mask in front of the jury for one of the very few times during the trial. The dueling arguments got underway with Minneapolis on edge after Floyd's death last spring set off protests in the city and across the U.S. that at times turned violent. The defense contends not only that Chauvin acted rea sonably but that the 46 year old Floyd died of heart dis ease and illegal drug use, not Chauvin's actions. Under the law, police are given certain latitude to use force and their actions are supposed to be judged according to what a "reason able officer" in the same situ ation would have done - a point the defense stressed repeatedly. Nelson noted that officers who first went to the corner store where Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill already were strug gling with Floyd when Chauvin arrived as backup. The attorney also noted that the first two officers on the scene were rookies and that police had been told that Floyd might be on drugs. "A reasonable police offi cer understands the intensity of the struggle," Nelson said, saying that Chauvin's body worn camera and his police badge were knocked off his chest. During prosecution argu ments, Schleicher replayed portions of the bystander video and other footage as he dismissed certain defense theories about Floyd's death as "nonsense," saying Chauvin killed Floyd by con stricting his breathing. Schleicher rejected the drug overdose argument, as well as the contention that police were distracted by hostile onlookers, that Floyd had "superhuman" strength from a state of agitation known as excited delirium, and that he suffered possible carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhaust. The prosecutor sarcasti cally referred to the idea that it was heart disease that killed Floyd as an "amazing coincidence." "Is that common sense or is that nonsense?" Schleicher asked the racially diverse jury. But Nelson said the prose cution brought in experts to testify that Floyd died because of asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, while the person who actually performed the autopsy, the county medical examiner, reached a different finding. Hennepin County medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, who ruled Floyd's death a homicide, said Floyd's heart gave out because of the way police held him down. He list ed Floyd's drug use and underlying health problems as contributing factors. Nelson also showed the jury pictures of pills found in Floyd's SUV and pill rem nants discovered in the squad car. Fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in Floyd's system. The defense attorney said the failure of the prosecution to acknowledge that medical problems or drugs played a role "defies medical science and it defies common sense and reason." Earlier, Schleicher described how Chauvin ignored Floyd's cries and continued to kneel on him well after he stopped breath ing and had no pulse. Chauvin was "on top of him for 9 minutes and 29 sec onds and he had to know," Schleicher said. "He had to know." He said Chauvin "heard him, but he just didn't listen." The prosecutor further argued that Floyd was "not a threat to anyone" and wasn't trying to escape when he struggled with officers. Instead, Schleicher said, he was terrified of being put into the tiny backseat of the squad car. He said a reasonable offi cer with Chauvin's training and experience - he was a 19 year Minneapolis police veteran - should have sized up the situation accurately. Chauvin, wearing a light gray suit with a blue shirt and blue tie, showed little expression as he watched himself and the other officers pinning Floyd to the ground on bodycam video played by his attorney. He cocked his head to the side and occa sionally leaned forward to write on a notepad. An unidentified woman occupied the single seat set aside in the pandemic spaced courtroom for a Chauvin supporter. Floyd's brother Philonise represented the family in court, as he often has during the trial. Schleicher also noted that Chauvin was required to use his training to provide med ical care to Floyd but ignored bystanders, rebuffed help from an off duty paramedic and rejected a suggestion from another officer to roll Floyd onto his side. "He could have listened to the bystanders. He could have listened to fellow offi cers. He could have listened to his own training. He knew better. He just didn't do bet ter," said Schleicher, adding that even a 9 year old bystander knew it was dan gerous. "Conscious indifference. Indifference. Do you want to know what indifference is and sounds like?" Schleicher asked before playing a video of Chauvin replying, "Uh huh" several times as Floyd cried out. The prosecution took about an hour and 45 min utes to make its case, with Schleicher saying at the con clusion: "This wasn't polic ing. This was murder." Nelson, in a closing argu ment that took about 2 hours and 45 minutes, played por tions of bystander video that showed the increasingly agi tated onlookers shouting at Chauvin to get off Floyd's neck. He said officers may have determined it wasn't safe to render medical aid to Floyd in that environment. Nelson described what he called a "critical moment": Floyd took his last breath, Chauvin reacted to the crowd by taking out his Mace and threatening a use of force, and the off duty paramedic walked up behind Chauvin, startling him. "And that changed Officer Chauvin's perception of what was happening," Nelson said. He added: "I cannot, in my opinion, understate the importance of this moment." The downtown court house is surrounded by con crete barriers and razor wire, in a city heavily fortified by National Guard members and just days after a new round of unrest over the police killing of a 20 year old Black man in a nearby suburb. Some businesses boarded up their storefronts with ply wood. Chauvin, 45, is charged with second degree murder, third degree murder and sec ond degree manslaughter. All three charges require the jury to conclude that Chauvin's actions were a "substantial causal factor" in Floyd's death and that his use of force was unreasonable. Second degree intentional murder carries up to 40 years in prison, third degree murder 25 years, and sec ond degree manslaughter 10 years. Sentencing guidelines call for far less time, includ ing 12 1/2 years on either murder count.
NATION
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Warsaw, Indiana
TIMES-UNION
8A
Thursday
Mostly Sunny
52 34
Saturday
Scattered Rain
60 38
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 2:04 p.m. Moonrise tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 4:14 a.m. Moonset tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 6:54 a.m. Sunrise tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 8:29 p.m. Sunset tonight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evansville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indianapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lafayette . . . . . . . sh . . . . . . . sh . . . . . . . sh . . . . . . . pc . . . . . . . sh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bloomington Wednesday Thursday City Hi Lo Wx 48 31 55 34 s 53 34 59 39 s 42 33 53 40 s 46 31 55 35 s 47 28 57 35 s 0-2: Minimal The higher the UV index, the higher the need for eye and skin protection. 3-4: Low 5-6: Moderate 7-9: High 10+: Very High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Noon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 8 a.m.
UV Index for 3 periods of the day
First 4/20 Full 4/26 Last 5/3 New 5/11
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Normal High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 in 1985 Record High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00" Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.21" Precipitation Year to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.17" Precipitation Normal Year to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.08" Precipitation Month to Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 in 1983 Record Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Normal Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Low Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 High Temperature Temperatures & Precipitation Yesterday
Friday
Partly Cloudy
59 41
Wednesday
Few Snow Showers
41 27
Tonight
Snow Showers Likely
26
Times-Union Weather
Tomorrow's Regional Weather Forecast Auburn 40 / 27 Columbia City 40 / 25 Fort Wayne 41 / 26 Goshen 40 / 27 Logansport 43 / 28 Mishawaka 40 / 28 Peru 41 / 28 Plymouth 40 / 27 Wabash 47 / 28
Warsaw 41 / 27
Winamac 43 / 28 Almanac Local Forecast
Expect mostly cloudy skies tonight with a 95% chance of snow showers, overnight near record low of 26. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph. The wind chill for tonight could reach 21. The record low for tonight is 25 set in 1956. Wednesday, skies will be partly cloudy with a 50% chance of snow showers, high temperature of 41, humidity of 57%. West northwest wind 6 to PSK
Sun and Moon Around Our State
Weather (Wx): cl/cloudy; mc/mostly cloudy; pc/partly cloudy; r/rain; rs/rain & snow; s/sunny; sh/showers; sn/snow; ss/snow showers; t/thunderstorms
UV Index National Map for Tomorrow W t h g i n o T
-Un s Time
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t a e W n io -Un
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ay rd atu S Na mo o T r o f p a l M a n io t Na w o r r mo
Likely howers S now S
26
n io g e R s ' w o r r mo o T
S ly Most
52 34
howers S now S ew F
41 27
t s a c e r o F r e h t a e l W a
unny
34
Cloudy ly art P
59 41
low record of chance 95% ly most xpect E
r o l F a c o L
Rain ered t cat S
60 38
t 6 wind heast out S 26of overnight showers, snow of a h wit onight t skies cloudy
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 re ay esterd Y n o tati i p reci P
K S P o t 6 wind 57%. of y humidit , 41of ure showers, snow of chance 50% ly part be will skies , ednesday 25is onight t or f low record could onight t or f chill wind o t 6 wind heast out S . 26of
ednesday ty Ci W Hi o L x W
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hursday T x Hi o L x W . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. a. 8
periods 3 or f ndex I UV
x e d In UV V
. w rro mo to se ri n u S . t h g i n to set n u S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
day he t of periods
. . . h g Hi rmal No . . h g Hi rd Reco . . n o tati i p reci P ear Y n o tati i p reci P rmal No n o tati i p reci P n Mo n o tati i p reci P . . . . w o L rd Reco . . . . w o L rmal No re eratu emp Te w o L
M d n a n Su x
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. a. 54 6: w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. p. 29 8: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1985 in 86 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00" 0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21" 7. Date to ear . . . . . . . 17" 9. Date to ear Y rmal . . . . . . . . . . . . 08" 1. Date to th n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1983 in 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 re
n o o M
.48 31 .42 33 .47 28 . . . . . . . . . . e l l svi van E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ary G . . . . . . . . . s i l o ap an i d n I . . . . . . . . . . afayette L sh pc sh . . . . . . . n to g n mi o o Bl 31 46 34 53
x): (W er eath W orms hunderst t / t showers; sh/ sunny; s/ snow; & rain rs/ rain; r/ cloudy; ly most mc/ cloudy; cl/
. 55 34 s . 53 40 s . 57 35 s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . High ery V : 10+ High : 7-9 e Moderat : 5-6 Low : 3-4 Minimal : 0-2 s 35 55 s 39 59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. . p 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . n o No
snow ss/ snow; sn/ showers; cloudy; ly part pc/ cloudy;
rro mo to se ri n o Mo rro mo to set n o Mo ion. ect prot skin and eye or f need he t higher he t index, UV he t higher he T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4/ F 20 4/ irst F
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. p. 04 2: w rro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m. a. 14 4: w rro
1 1 5/ New 3 5/ Last 26 4/ ull F
574-551-7596
358 Enterprise Drive, Warsaw (574)269-6911
Carol Presley-Ousley
Prosecutor: Chauvin 'Had To Know' Floyd's Life Was In Danger
In this image from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin listens as his defense attorney Eric Nelson gives closing arguments as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Monday in the trial of Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis.
Photo by As ociated Pres
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