One year since George Floyd was killed during an arrest by the Minneapolis Police, the lawyer for the now ex-cop on trial for second-degree murder is asking to show the jury footage of Floyd getting arrested in 2019.
According to a Reuters report, Eric Nelson, Floyd’s lead lawyer, is arguing that the earlier arrest, where Floyd reportedly panicked and swallowed several opioid pain-killers as police approached him, shows that he had “the exact same behaviour”.
“The similarities are incredible, it’s the exact same behaviour in two incidents almost exactly one year apart,” Nelson told the court, adding that Floyd called out for this “mama” in both arrests, as per the footage.
Prosecutors opposed the move, saying it was a bid to dirty Floyd’s character.
“Matthew Frank, a prosecutor in the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said the request showed “the desperation of the defence to smear Mr. Floyd’s character by showing that when he is struggling with an opioid addiction, like so many Americans do, it’s really just evidence of bad character.”
The request came during jury selection. The jurors seated so far in the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death are a diverse group, an element being closely scrutinised in a case where race plays such a central role.
Nine jurors have been seated through Monday, including five who are white; one who is multiracial; two who are Black and one who is Hispanic.
Floyd, a Black man, was declared dead on May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked sometimes violent protests in Minneapolis and beyond and led to a national reckoning on racial justice. Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter.
Three other former officers face an August trial on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.
With inputs from agencies
