Derek Chauvin is on trial for George Floyd's death

The trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin continued today with testimony from paramedics who responded to the scene on May 25, 2020.

Among those called upon to testify was Courteney Ross, George Floyd’s girlfriend.

Here's what happened today in Minneapolis:

Paramedic Derek Smith said that on May 25, 2020, he arrived on the scene, and saw Floyd on the ground and three officers on top of him."I walked up to the individual, noticed he wasn't moving. I didn't see any chest rise or fall on this individual," Smith said.

When asked to describe Floyd's overall condition he said, "in lay terms, I thought he was dead." Smith said that when he checked Floyd, his pupils were "large" and "dilated," and he did not detect a pulse. He said he did all he could do to try and revive Floyd. "[H]e's a human being and I was trying to give him a second chance at life," Smith said.

Fire Capt. Jeremy Norton testified that when he entered the ambulance, he saw "an unresponsive body on a cot." After following the ambulance to the hospital, Norton said he ultimately filed a report with his supervisors detailing what he saw that day.

"I was aware that a man had been killed in police custody, and I wanted to notify my supervisors to notify the appropriate people above us in the city, in the fire department and whomever else, and then I also wanted to inform my deputy that there was an off-duty firefighter, who was a witness at the scene," he added.

Courteney Ross, Floyd’s girlfriend, testified she has been in a relationship with him since August 2017 and they were together until his death. Ross provided details about Floyd and their relationship. She described Floyd as "a momma's boy," saying he was devastated and "broken" when his mother died. Ross said he tested positive for Covid-19 in "late March" and that he had been quarantining.

Ross testified that they both struggled with opioid addiction. Prosecutors were the first to ask about opioid use during the trial to get ahead of some of the defense team's arguments. Defense attorneys plan to make the case that Floyd died of unrelated medical issues and drug use, and they have argued Chauvin was following proper police protocol.

Paramedic Seth Zachary Bravinder, who provided medical assistance to Floyd, told the court that when he arrived at the scene, he could tell from a distance that Floyd wasn't breathing. He also said he stopped the ambulance en route to the hospital so he could assist his partner in giving Floyd aid after he "flatlined" — a term he used to describe when "your heart isn't really doing anything at that moment."

Retired Sgt. David Pleoger of the Minneapolis Police Department testified that the force being used by officers should have stopped earlier. “When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended the restraint,” Pleoger told the court. 

He also described a phone call he had with Chauvin on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck. "I believe he told me that they had — tried to put Mr. Floyd — I didn't know his name at the time, Mr. Floyd into the car. He had become combative," Pleoger said recalling the conversation. "I think he mentioned that he had injured — either his nose or his mouth, a bloody lip, I think, and eventually after struggling with him, he suffered a medical emergency and an ambulance was called and they headed out of the scene."

Witness to invoke the Fifth Amendment: The man who was sitting in a car with Floyd when police approached and removed them from the vehicle says he will not testify in the trial. Morries Hall will invoke the Fifth Amendment and not testify if he is called to the stand, according to a filing submitted by his public defender Adrienne Cousins.

The trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin has ended for the day.

Trial proceedings will resume Friday at 9:15 a.m. local time.

David Pleoger, the Minneapolis Police Department sergeant who was on duty the night George Floyd died, said the force being used by officers should have stopped earlier. 

Derek Chauvin is on trial for second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges in connection to Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.  

“Do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of Mr. Floyd should have ended in this encounter?” prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked Pleoger. 

“Yes,” he responded from the witness stand. 

“When is it?” the prosecutor asked. 

“When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended the restraint,” Pleoger told the court. 

“And that was after he was handcuffed on the ground and no longer resistant?” Schleicher asked.

“Correct,” the witness replied. 

“It would be reasonable to put a knee on someone’s neck until they were not resisting anymore, but it should stop when they are no longer combative,” Pleoger said.  

“Would you agree that a person may be restrained and only to the degree necessary to keep them under control?” Schleicher asked. 

“Yes” Pleoger responded.  

“And no more restraining?” Schleicher asked. 

“Right,” the witness replied.   

He also noted the requirement under police department policy is to call an ambulance and to render emergency aid while officers are waiting for the ambulance. 

Pleoger was responsible for doing a report for specific times officers used force and had to respond to scenes when, “the maximum restraint technique” or hobble is used. 

If used, the policy says officers are supposed to position the subject onto their side so they can breathe better, he testified.

“If you restrain somebody or leave them on their chest and stomach for too long, their breathing can become compromised, and so you'd want to get them up out of that position after a while, so they don't suffer breathing complications,” Pleoger said. 

He testified the danger comes from someone’s own body weight, even if no one is pressing down on them. 

Pleoger was the supervisor for the officers involved in Floyd’s death. He has known and worked with Chauvin since 2008 and had a similar work relationship with Tou Thao. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lanes were new officers on his shift. 

On May 25, Pleoger got a call from an earlier witness, 911 dispatcher Jena Scurry, to report a possible use of force by the officers at Cup Foods.

“She called to say she didn't mean to be a snitch, but she'd seen something, viewing a camera, that she thought was concerning and called let me know about it,” he testified.   

On the recording of the call, Pleoger said it may have just been a “take down” and didn’t require a supervisor, but he called Chauvin on his cell phone to check it out. 

“We had to hold a guy down, he was going crazy, wouldn’t go in the back of the squad,” a short clip from Chauvin’s body camera shows him saying on his cell phone. 

Chauvin said they had tried to put Floyd in the car, he became combative, and then after struggling with him, he had a medical emergency, Pleoger testified.  

After arriving on scene at Cup Foods, Pleoger directed the officers to try to get statements from the witnesses.

“We can try, but they are all pretty hostile,” Chauvin is heard responding on a body camera. 

At one point Chauvin told Pleoger, he had put his knee on Floyd’s neck, but did not specify how long, Pleoger testified. 

Pleoger went to the hospital and was first told Floyd was not doing well, then later he was informed that he had died.

Upon Floyd’s death the incident became classified as a “critical incident,” and specific procedures were followed, including securing the scene and taking the officers to Minneapolis City Hall to be questioned by investigators. 

On cross-examination, Pleoger told defense attorney Eric Nelson there are some circumstances where it would be OK for there to be a short delay in reporting the use of force. 

A phone call or text is adequate, and the report does not have to go through police dispatch. 

Officers have to render medical assistance “as soon as reasonably practical,” according to Minneapolis Police Department policy Pleoger testified with the defense noting the word “reasonably.”

He agreed that the use of force is not “attractive,” Pleoger said. Officers sometimes have to do violent things, he said.  

Pleoger acknowledged to Nelson it’s possible that officers could be planning to use a hobble, and then stop and decide to hold the person in place while they waited for medical help.  

They would have to remove the hobble when paramedics arrived, and that could cause a delay in getting treatment. 

Pleoger said bystanders yelling and filming police can increase the stress on officers. 

He acknowledged that in some circumstances he would deal with a threat before providing medical attention. 

Pleoger agreed with Nelson that “it can happen” that someone who regains consciousness can actually become more volatile.  

A use of force review involves more than just reviewing body cameras, he acknowledged. 

When he arrives at a scene, he said he would not care which officer talked to him first.

He knew it was a use of force incident when he arrived at Cup Foods, but he didn’t know it as a “critical incident” since he didn’t know Floyd had died. 

Pleoger did not do a use of force review in this case. He later acknowledged he would not have done such a review even if Floyd had lived, since the use of force happened when he was in handcuffs. 

On redirect examination, Pleoger told prosecutor Schleicher that officers sometimes should determine they should decrease the use of force. 

Information like if the subject is still resisting, his medical condition, pulse, and breathing could dictate that an officer should stop being violent and provide medical help, he said.  

On recross examination, Pleoger told Nelson that other things that could be considered as well, including the crowd, if they were volatile, traffic and more. 

Other information should be considered too, including people telling the officer that a person was in need of medical help should also be considered, Pleoger told Schleicher. 

Retired Sgt. David Pleoger of the Minneapolis Police Department testified today about a phone call he had with former police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd's neck.

Pleoger said he has known Chauvin since about 2008.

"I believe he told me that they had — tried to put Mr. Floyd — I didn't know his name at the time, Mr. Floyd into the car. He had become combative," Pleoger said recalling the conversation he had with Chauvin that day.

"I think he mentioned that he had injured — either his nose or his mouth, a bloody lip, I think, and eventually after struggling with him, he suffered a medical emergency and an ambulance was called and they headed out of the scene," Pleoger continued.

Watch here:

Retired Sgt. David Pleoger, a former shift supervisor with the Minneapolis Police Department, is being questioned right now by prosecutors.

Judge Peter Cahill just announced that the court would take a 20-minute afternoon break in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin.

The trial is set to resume in 20 minutes, around 4:10 p.m. ET.

Today marks the fourth day of witness testimony in the trial.

Capt. Jeremy Norton of the Minneapolis Fire Department testified about what he saw when entering the ambulance which contained George Floyd in May 2020.

"He was an unresponsive body on a cot," Norton testified today in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin.

After following the ambulance to the hospital, Norton said he ultimately filed a report with his supervisors detailing what he saw that day.

"I was aware that a man had been killed in police custody, and I wanted to notify my supervisors to notify the appropriate people above us in the city, in the fire department and whomever else, and then I also wanted to inform my deputy that there was an off-duty firefighter, who was a witness at the scene," he added.

Watch here:

Paramedic Derek Smith is testifying now in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who is charged in the death of George Floyd.

Smith testified that on May 25, 2020, he arrived on the scene, and saw Floyd on the ground and three officers on top of him.

"I walked up to the individual, noticed he wasn't moving. I didn't see any chest rise or fall on this individual," Smith said.

When asked to describe Floyd's overall condition he said, "in lay terms, I thought he was dead."

Smith said that when he checked Floyd, his pupils were "large" and "dilated," and he did not detect a pulse.

He said he did all he could do to try and revive Floyd.

Smith is the second paramedic to testify today. Paramedic Seth Zachary Bravinder, who also provided medical assistance to Floyd, said that when he arrived at the scene, he could tell from a distance that Floyd wasn't breathing.

Watch here:

Witness testimony has resumed in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who is charged in the death of George Floyd.

Earlier today, jurors heard testimony from Floyd's girlfriend and a Minneapolis paramedic who provided medical aid to Floyd.

If you're just reading in, here's what's happened today in court:

Courteney Ross, Floyd’s girlfriend, testified she has been in a relationship with him since August 2017 and they were together until his death. Ross, who was the 13th witness for the prosecution, provided details about Floyd and their relationship. She described Floyd as "a momma's boy," saying he was devastated and "broken" when his mother died. Ross said he tested positive for Covid-19 in "late March" and that he had been quarantining. She added that his roommates also had Covid-19. 

Ross testified that they both struggled with opioid addiction. Prosecutors were the first to ask about opioid use during the trial to get ahead of some of the defense team's arguments. Defense attorneys plan to make the case that Floyd died of unrelated medical issues and drug use, and they have argued Chauvin was following proper police protocol.

Paramedic Seth Zachary Bravinder, who provided medical assistance to George Floyd, told the court that when he arrived at the scene, he could tell from a distance that Floyd wasn't breathing. He also said he stopped the ambulance en route to the hospital so he could assist his partner in giving Floyd aid after he "flatlined" — a term he used to describe when "your heart isn't really doing anything at that moment."

Witness to invoke the Fifth Amendment: The man who was sitting in a car with George Floyd when police approached and removed them from the vehicle says he will not testify in the trial. Morries Hall will invoke the Fifth Amendment and not testify if he is called to the stand, according to a filing submitted by his public defender Adrienne Cousins.