Judge Peter Cahill refused Chauvin lawyer Eric Nelson’s argument that prosecutors had failed to establish Chauvin was guilty
The judge presiding over former Minneapolis authorities Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial denied an acquittal petition Wednesday from the officer’s defense group.
Chauvin is accused of murdering George Floyd on May 25, 2020, by pressing on a knee Floyd’s neck for at least nine minutes through an arrest after Floyd supposedly attempted to use a fake $20 bill in a shop.
The acquittal petition came through the second day of their defense presenting its case at a Minneapolis courtroom after prosecutors rested their case Tuesday after 11 days of testimony which included video proof.
“The court’s obligation at this time would be to take a look at the evidence in a light most favorable to the country as well as when there are inconsistencies, minor or major, involving witnesses, the jury is free to consider some and not others,” Cahill said in his conclusion, according to The Hill.
Requests for acquittal are generally made halfway through a trial and therefore are nearly always refused, the socket noted.
Throughout their part of the trial, prosecutors called forth several health professionals who testified that Floyd, 46, died from a deficiency of oxygen caused by the positioning of Chauvin’s knee to his throat to get a time period.
On Wednesday, the defense group discovered that Floyd’s heart disorder led to his departure, with watch David Fowler, a former Maryland medical examiner, indicating that Floyd’s medication usage and exposure to exhaust from a nearby police automobile too could have been factors, ” The Hill reported.