Ex-police officer waives right to testify at trial for George Floyd's fatal arrest

MINNEAPOLIS • Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin waived his right to testify to the jury about his part in the deadly arrest last May of George Floyd as both sides rested their cases at his murder trial, the most high-profile police misconduct case in decades.

"I will invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege today," Chauvin, 45, said in a hearing before the jury was brought in on Thursday morning after briefly removing his mask, referring to the constitutional right against self-incrimination.

They were his most extensive remarks since his trial began with jury selection on March 8.

The defence told Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill it would call no more witnesses after two days of testimony and rested its case, which has focused on raising doubts about what caused Mr Floyd's death.

It is rare for defendants to take the stand in a criminal case because they face intense cross-examination by prosecutors and risk undermining their case and credibility.

After a short appearance by a rebuttal witness, prosecutors from the Minnesota Attorney-General's office also rested their case.

Judge Cahill said jurors would hear closing arguments on Monday before receiving the case for deliberations.

They will be sequestered at a hotel in a city whose downtown is filled with National Guard troops, prepared for potential unrest.

Chauvin, who is white, was seen in bystander video kneeling on the neck of Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man in handcuffs, for more than nine minutes after Mr Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit US$20 (S$27) bill to buy cigarettes.

The footage of Mr Floyd's death sparked global protests against the disproportionate use of force by police against black people.

Prosecutors rested their case earlier this week, calling their last witness, Mr Floyd's brother Philonise, to the stand where he told the jury on Monday that his brother was a "big momma's boy".

Over the first two weeks of the trial, the prosecution called eyewitnesses - ranging from a nine-year-old girl to a 61-year-old man - who described their despair and horror as they watched the incident unfold.

They also called a series of police experts, including the Minneapolis police chief himself, and seven doctors with different medical specialities who told the jury it was Chauvin's actions that killed Mr Floyd, not a drug overdose, as the defence has contended.

Prosecutors also made the most of an abundance of video clips of the death, recorded from multiple angles on cellphones and police body-worn cameras.

On Tuesday, Chauvin's defence began presenting their case by calling to the stand a now-retired officer who pulled over a car in which Mr Floyd was a passenger in 2019, and told the jury that he was unresponsive and noncompliant during the incident.

They also called a forensic pathologist, former Maryland chief medical examiner David Fowler, who said Mr Floyd really died of heart disease, and that the exhaust fumes of the adjacent police car may have also poisoned him.

The judge said prosecutors had been notified by the defence earlier this year that Chauvin would advance a theory of carbon monoxide poisoning.

REUTERS