One of the first witnesses called by Derek Chauvin's defense Tuesday testified that he felt the former officer's actions in the arrest of George Floyd were "justified." Use-of-force expert and former police instructor Barry Brodd said that after reviewing the evidence, he felt the former officer was "following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement," the Star Tribune reports. He likened Floyd's death to a scenario in which a suspect fell and hit his head after being Tasered, saying, "That isn’t an incident of deadly force. That’s an incident of an accidental death." Brodd, who spent 22 years with the Santa Rosa Police Department, said the agitated crowd was among the reasons that justified Chauvin keeping Floyd in a prone restraint for more than nine minutes.
Brodd argued that Chauvin's restraint of Floyd did not constitute a use of force, though the New York Times reports that his argument was "effectively dismantled" under cross-examination from prosecutor Steve Greenberg. Brodd also admitted under cross-examination that Chauvin's actions did not conform with MPD policy. Earlier Tuesday, the prosecution rested its case against Chauvin after 11 days and 38 witnesses, reports USA Today. Other witnesses called by the defense Tuesday included retired paramedic Michelle Moseng, who said Floyd told her during a 2019 arrest that he had been taking opioid pills every 20 minutes. Shawanda Hill, who was with Floyd in his SUV before the arrest, said he had fallen asleep and when there was an officer at the window with a gun, he said, "Please, please, don’t shoot me. Don’t shoot me. What did I do?" the AP reports. (More George Floyd stories.)
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