(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Minneapolis is bracing
for the high profile trial of Derek Chauvin,
the former police officer charged with second degree murder
and second degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
- You're resisting arrest - I cannot breath
- [Unseen Female] Are you having fun?
- [Unseen Male] You're a grown, you're a tough guy.
- Video of the incident
in which Chauvin is seen kneeling on Floyd's neck,
While, Floyd repeated that he couldn't breathe
sparked worldwide protests and launched a national reckoning
over police brutality against black people
in the United States.
- Say his name! George Floyd! (people chanting)
(somber music)
The trial will be live streamed
and authorities expect it to inflame tensions once again.
More than 3000 law enforcement officers
and national guard troops could be
on call as the jury deliberates.
- This is a difficult case in so many ways.
People around the world have seen this footage,
but people in Minneapolis have seen the footage
and what it's done to the city.
I mean, you had riots
a billion dollars worth of damage to businesses.
1500 businesses were somehow impacted by this.
- We recognize that throughout the trial itself
people will want to gather,
they'll want to protest.
They'll want to express their first amendment rights.
And we want to enable them to do so safely and peacefully.
- [Narrator] Due to concerns surrounding COVID-19
and social distancing
Chauvin, will be tried alone.
His lawyer has made filings indicating he's not guilty.
(suspenseful music)
So, what kind of evidence will be presented?
Who might testify?
And what is the bar for conviction?
Here are three things to know about Chauvin's trial.
First video evidence is expected to play a significant role.
The prosecution is likely to seize
on the footage that shows Chauvin kneeling
on Floyd's neck for around eight minutes.
As prosecutors have pointed out previously
Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd's neck,
for about four minutes
after an officer said Floyd was passing out
and for two and a half minutes after another officer said,
Floyd did not have a pulse.
- [Policeman Kneeling] Relax!
- [Man On Ground] Man I can't breath (mumbles)
- I think those last
minutes after he's already
no longer not only not moving,
but they can't even find a pulse,
how the jury is gonna react to seeing that again in court
is probably one of the big moments of the trial.
- [Narrator] The defense may also use
video evidence to bolster its case.
Though, it is likely to focus
on what happened before those final minutes.
- [Policeman] You got 'em?
- [Floyd] Dang man.
- [Policeman] Put your hands on top of your head.
- [Narrator] Chauvin's attorney has previously argued
that police body camera footage shows Floyd struggling
and actively resisting arrest.
- [Policeman] Stop resisting then.
- [Floyd] I'm not.
- [Policeman] Yes you are.
- [Narrator] The defense has also pointed to footage
of Floyd saying he couldn't breathe
before he was ever on the ground,
as evidence that serious medical issues
were the cause of his death.
- [Floyd] I can't breath! (mumbles) Please!
(somber music)
- [Narrator] Medical evidence,
will also feature prominently in the trial
but the jury may hear conflicting testimony
especially because two different autopsies determined
that Floyd's death was a homicide
but gave different reasons for his death.
- The defense only wants to have the official medical
examiners report,
which talks about George Floyd dying
because of cardiac arrest, complicated by the police
trying to arrest him and subdue him.
And then also mentioning that he had fentanyl
and methamphetamines and a heart condition.
- [Narrator] Chauvin's attorney has pointed to that autopsy
to argue that Floyd couldn't breathe due to a lethal dose
of Fentanyl and possibly a speedball,
and that other pre-existing conditions combined
with the drugs most likely led to his death.
But another autopsy prepared for Floyd's family
came to a different conclusion,
that he died of asphyxiation at the hands of the police.
- Well, I think the question the two sides are gonna be
going back and forth on is,
what's standard procedure and what is police training.
- So what is the bar for a conviction?
The most serious charges Chauvin is facing
is, second degree unintentional murder.
That means prosecutors don't need to prove intent to kill
but they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin
intentionally inflicted substantial bodily harm to Floyd,
which resulted in Floyd's death.
- What they are actually trying to prove is that
in the course of him being assaulted by the police, he died.
So the police didn't intend to kill him
but by assaulting him, it led to his death.
- [Narrator] Chauvin's attorney argued
that the officers properly restrained Floyd
because he was acting erratically and posed a risk
of injury to himself and potentially to the officers.
- It really is a difficult thing to come to grips with
because everybody's seen this video
the officers were all fired immediately
but it's still very difficult
to prosecute a police officer in this country.
- [Narrator] Legally, the stakes are high.
If Chauvin is acquitted,
the three other officers may not go to trial at all
for aiding and abetting him.
Currently, that trial has been delayed until August.
Lawyers for the three,
have made filings indicating they aren't guilty.
(somber music)