Death of George Floyd: 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the reasons for the death examined by the parties

2021-03-29T15:14:38.491Z

The substantive debates in the Derek Chauvin trial begin on March 29. The white policeman is accused of having killed Georges Floyd, an African-American who died during his arrest in Minneapolis in M…

Death of George Floyd: 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the reasons for the death examined by the parties

George Floyd's family lawyer Ben Crump on March 29, 2021. AP - Jim Mone

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The substantive debates in the Derek Chauvin trial begin on March 29.

The white policeman is accused of having killed Georges Floyd, an African-American who died during his arrest in Minneapolis in May 2020. The officer had kept his knee on the victim's neck, pinned to the ground and handcuffed for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

After the selection of 12 jurors, this trial gets to the heart of the matter with a question at the heart of the debates, the cause of death of Georges Floyd.

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If the medical examiner concluded that he was dead from cardiac arrest, both sides have their own explanation.

For the Floyd family lawyer, the victim died of asphyxiation.

Derek Chauvin's lawyer assures us that the police officer only followed the procedures in order to control a recalcitrant suspect and adds that Georges Floyd, who had health problems, succumbed to an overdose.

Fentanyl was found during the autopsy.

Note that many activists and lawyers point to the fact that the debates do not focus on issues of racism, which many consider systemic within the police.

The prosecution will however try to prove that Derek Chauvin showed "

contempt

" for the life of George Floyd who, before dying, repeated several times that he could not breathe.

Among the prosecution figures is a famous Minneapolis lawyer: Jerry Blackwell, founder of the Minnesota Black Lawyers Association.

It was his plea that last year allowed the posthumous pardon of Max Mason, a black American convicted 100 years ago for the rape of a white woman he did not commit.

Derek Chauvin appears free, he risks 40 years in prison.

He is charged with murder and manslaughter.

The trial should last at least three weeks.

It takes place at the Hennepin County Government Center.

An ultra-secure building, given the potentially explosive nature of this trial which, without an audience because of the pandemic, will be broadcast live.

On the spot, relatives of George Floyd knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the estimated time of the victim's agony.

Georges Floyd's family and lawyers on one knee for 8mns 46 the time Floyd was in agony under Dereck Chauvin's knee pic.twitter.com/UktXDu7jr1

- anne corpet (@annecorpet) March 29, 2021

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To read: Video of the death of George Floyd: what the analysis of the images says

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To read

:

Death of George Floyd: opening of an extraordinary trial this Monday in the United States

Death of George Floyd: 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the reasons for the death examined by the parties

Death of George Floyd: 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the reasons for the death examined by the parties

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