‘Reasonable’ Force Is Focus in Trial of Floyd’s Accused Killer

The trial of George Floyd’s accused killer beginning Monday is expected to center on whether former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s use of force went beyond the bounds of police training.

Chauvin’s defense attorney Eric Nelson will attempt to show the former police officer acted reasonably in attempting to detain Floyd while laying groundwork for a possible appeal should he be convicted, according to attorneys monitoring the trial.

The hurdle for Nelson will be convincing the jury that Chauvin acted reasonably throughout the entire sequence of events leading to Floyd’s death, said Mike Brandt, criminal defense lawyer and partner at Brandt Defense in the Minneapolis region.

“Under Minnesota statute, the cop can use a reasonable use of force to subdue somebody, even if that results in deadly force. So, the question then becomes, was this reasonable?” Brandt said. “If you’ve got this use of force, there could be somebody saying, maybe it was okay in the beginning, but at a point, no longer a threat, that’s going to be a big one.”

Chauvin, who was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, faces a second-degree murder charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 years. He has also been charged with third-degree murder, which carries a penalty of up to 25 years, and manslaughter with a maximum sentence of 10 years. Video of Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and calls for Chauvin and the other officers on the scene to be held criminally responsible.

Throughout jury selection, Nelson quizzed prospective jurors on their ability to set aside opinions they may have formed from watching the video of Floyd’s death and evaluate Chauvin’s actions in light of the training he received as a police officer.

The prosecution will argue Chauvin violated police practices and killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck. Brandt predicts the prosecution is “going to overdo it,” while the defense “may give a very brief opening statement, just to kind of plant some seeds for the things that he wants the jury to look at.”

Nelson signaled he plans to bring up Floyd’s medical history and drug use in an attempt to prove that Floyd died from something other than Chauvin’s actions, said Brandt.

“The problem he has with that is, even if Floyd had some underlying medical condition—whether it be hypertension, clogged arteries, or whatever the case may be—Nelson will have to show that if Chauvin’s actions, either because of the position of Floyd’s body or the pressure on his neck, made Floyd more vulnerable, so it didn’t take much to put him into a cardiac arrest,” Brandt said.

Preparing an Appeal

Attorneys watching the trial said they also expect Nelson to use the publicity around Minneapolis’ decision to reach a $27 million civil settlement with Floyd’s family to lay the groundwork for any needed appeal. Trial Judge Peter Cahill repeatedly criticized the city for announcing the settlement just as the trial was beginning because it could taint jurors’ perceptions. Two jurors who had been seated were later removed from the jury after saying they couldn’t remain impartial following the news.

“Given how the settlement was touted by the city as ‘fair’ and ‘right,’ I think it puts jurors in a very difficult position to not feel pressure from their government as well as their neighbors,” said Christa J. Groshek, a former public defender and owner and managing attorney of Groshek Law PA in Minneapolis.

Case watchers say that the settlement opens the doors for Chauvin to appeal the outcome if convicted.

“The defense is going to make objections throughout every inch of this trial to maintain a record for a potential appeal,” said Julie Rendelman of the Law Offices of Julie Rendelman LLC in New York.

If Chauvin is found guilty, Rendelman noted that any indications of a juror’s decision being impacted “by information outside of the evidence within the case would be used by the defense in the appellate process.”