Derek Chauvin is on trial for George Floyd's death

By Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 9:40 PM ET, Fri April 2, 2021
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2:24 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Two Minneapolis police officers testified today. Here's what else happened in the Chauvin trial this week.

Jurors heard from two Minneapolis police officers today during the fifth day of testimony in the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin.

The high-ranking officers described what they saw on May 25, 2020, at the scene after George Floyd died. Trial proceedings ended early Friday, but will resume Monday morning.

Here's what happened today in court:

  • Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who leads the Minneapolis Police's homicide unit and responded to the crime scene the night Floyd died, told the court that the use of force by Chauvin against Floyd was “totally unnecessary.” Zimmerman said the restraint should have “absolutely” stopped once Floyd was handcuffed and on the ground. The lieutenant said the actions like those used on Floyd are not part of police department training, saying “if your knee is on a person’s neck, that could kill them.”
  • Sgt. Jon Curtis Edwards was an overnight sergeant working at the Minneapolis Police Department’s third precinct the night Floyd died. He described how he secured the crime scene and made contact with J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, who were the only two officers there. Edwards said he had his body camera activated when he arrived, but neither officer had their body camera on when he met them. He asked both of them to activate them.

What else happened this week: Jurors heard testimony from bystanders described the moment they witnessed Chauvin kneel on Floyd's neck. Here's a recap of their statements:

  • Day 1: Trial proceedings started with opening statements from the prosecution and defense. Prosecutors revealed that Chauvin was on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds — an update on the initially reported 8 minutes and 46 seconds. After opening statements, jurors heard from three witnesses, including a 911 dispatcher, an employee from a nearby gas station and a professional mixed martial arts fighter who stumbled upon the scene.
  • Day 2: Six bystanders testified on the second day of Chauvin's criminal trial: a 9-year-old girl, three high school students, a mixed martial arts fighter and a Minneapolis firefighter. They described their feelings of horror and fear as they watched Floyd slowly die under Chauvin's knee.
  • Day 3: The third day of Chauvin's trial featured testimony from several bystanders who interacted with Floyd as well as graphic excerpts of police body camera footage showing his arrest and final moments. In the videos, Floyd gasps that he's claustrophobic, repeatedly says he can't breathe and calls for his mother.
  • Day 4: Floyd's girlfriend spoke about Floyd's struggles with opioid addiction, and several first responders said that Floyd appeared dead when they arrived on the scene. A former police shift supervisor testified that Chauvin's use of force should have ended earlier. The jury also heard Chauvin explain his version of what happened in a call captured on body-camera footage.
12:42 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Court has adjourned for the day

Proceedings in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin have wrapped for the day.

The trial will resume Monday at 9:15 a.m. local time.

12:43 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Minneapolis police training does not allow for actions used on Floyd, lieutenant says

From CNN’s Aaron Cooper in Minneapolis

Witness Lt. Richard Zimmerman of the Minneapolis Police Department testifies on April 2 in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Witness Lt. Richard Zimmerman of the Minneapolis Police Department testifies on April 2 in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Court TV/Pool/AP

The most senior officer on the Minneapolis police department testified Thursday that actions like those used on George Floyd are not part of police department training, saying “if your knee is on a person’s neck, that could kill them.”

Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who supervises the Minneapolis Police Department homicide unit, testified that actions like those used on Floyd are not part of police department training. 

Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck while he lay handcuffed outside of Cup Foods as Floyd told Chauvin and three other officers that he could not breathe. 

Zimmerman is the longest serving officer in the department, he told prosecutor Matthew Frank, and has been trained every year in the use of force. 

He said he has never been trained by the Minneapolis Police Department to kneel on the back of a suspect.

“That would be the top tier, the deadly force,” Zimmerman told prosecutor Matthew Frank.

There is a continuum of force that officers can use depending on the situation, that ranges from simply being on scene, to verbal skills, a “soft” technique like escorting a person by their arm, or hard techniques like handcuffs, all the way up to deadly force. 

Once a person is in custody, their safety and well-being are the officers’ responsibility. 

“Once you secure a person you need to get them out of the prone position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing,” Zimmerman told the court. “Once a person is cuffed, you need to turn them on their side or have them sit up.”

Suspects are a much smaller threat to officers after they are in handcuffs. 

“Once a person is cuffed, the threat level goes down all the way. They are cuffed, how can they really hurt you,” he said. “You getting injured is way down. You could have some guy try to kick you or something, but you can move out of the way. That person is handcuffed, you know, so the threat level is just not there.”

When someone stops resisting, officers should work to calm them down. 

“If they become less combative, you may just have them sit down on a curb. The idea is to calm the person down and if they are not a threat to you at that point, you try to help them so that they are not as upset as they may have been in the beginning,” Zimmerman testified.

On the night Floyd died, Zimmerman arrived at the corner where Cup Foods is located around 10 p.m. and walked up to officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, body camera video showed. 

Zimmerman determined they were “involved officers” and needed to go to city hall to be interviewed, he said. 

Other officers were needed at the scene, so he testified he called in an on-call homicide team.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) took over the case when the hospital determined Floyd had died, Zimmerman explained to the court. 

12:22 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Chauvin's use of force for so long was "totally unnecessary," Minneapolis homicide unit leader says

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Pool
Pool

Lt. Richard Zimmerman, head of the Minneapolis Police's homicide unit, said the use of force by former officer Derek Chauvin against George Floyd was “totally unnecessary.” 

“Pulling him down to the ground face down, and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for. I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger — if that's what they felt — and that's what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force,” Zimmerman said. 

Chauvin knelt on Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, prosecutors said Monday. 

Zimmerman said the restraint should have “absolutely” stopped once Floyd was handcuffed and on the ground. 

12:07 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

The court is back from its 20-minute break

The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin is back in session after a quick recess and witness testimony continues.

Earlier this morning, two Minneapolis police officers took the stand in the fifth day of testimony.

Remember: Today will be a shorter day than the first four days of testimony. The jury will be dismissed around 1 p.m. ET (noon local).

Judge Peter Cahill noted Thursday that the trial is ahead of schedule and there were some legal matters that needed to be addressed. It’s not clear if those legal issues will be discussed in open court after the jury leaves, or behind the scenes.

11:28 a.m. ET, April 2, 2021

The prosecution is now questioning a Minneapolis Police lieutenant 

Pool
Pool

Minneapolis Police Lt. Richard Zimmerman took the stand in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, and he is being questioned by the prosecution.

He said he has been a police officer in Minneapolis since 1985 and currently works in the homicide unit.

Jon Curtis Edwards, a sergeant with the Minneapolis Police who secured the scene where George Floyd incident took place, testified earlier today.

1:00 p.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Minneapolis Police sergeant who secured crime scene after Floyd's death testifies about what he saw

From CNN’s Aaron Cooper in Minneapolis

Jon Curtis Edwards, a sergeant with the Minneapolis Police, just took the stand in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged in the death of George Floyd.

He's been with the department since 2007, he testified. The prosecution is asking him details about the crime scene and reviewing footage from his body camera.

Edwards was an overnight sergeant working at the department’s third precinct the night Floyd died. 

Edwards worked the shift after Sgt. David Pleoger, who testified Thursday that the force being used by Chauvin on Floyd should have stopped earlier. 

Edwards told the court Pleoger called him and asked him to report to the scene of Floyd’s arrest at Cup Foods. The sergeant said he went to the location of the incident to "secure that area" and make contact with any "officers that were there on the scene still."

Edwards said that he arrived to scene — 38th and Chicago — around 9:35 p.m. ET and only saw two officers there: J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane in their police car. "There weren't many other people around when I arrived there," he noted.

Edwards said he had his body camera activated when he arrived, but neither officer had their body camera on when he met them. He asked both of them to activate them.

The officers told Edwards where the incident with Floyd took place, and he instructed them to place crime scene tape around the area "so that we could preserve any potential evidence that was there."

Other officers arrived, Edwards instructed them to guard the scene and look for witnesses. 

He secured Kueng and Lane’s police car as well as the vehicle Floyd was driving until investigators came and towed them away.  

Inside Cup Foods, Edwards spoke with the manager, he testified. 

Two homicide officers arrived at the scene, including Sgt. Robert Dale and Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who took command of the scene and asked for more officers and a crime scene log. Dale later told Edwards that Floyd had died, he testified.

Lane and Kueng were separately taken to city hall to be questioned. 

Special Agent Michael Phill with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) arrived and took over the scene around 11 p.m., Edwards testified.

After the BCA completed their investigation, Edwards helped take down the police tape and left the scene.

The defense did not cross examine Edwards. 

10:24 a.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Court is in session for the 5th day of testimony in the Derek Chauvin trial

Pool
Pool

The fifth day of testimony in the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin just started.

We're expecting to hear from more witnesses today, but it will be a shorter day than the first four. The jury will be dismissed around 1 p.m. ET (noon local).

Judge Peter Cahill noted Thursday that the trial is ahead of schedule and there were some legal matters that needed to be addressed. It’s not clear if those legal issues will be discussed in open court after the jury leaves, or behind the scenes.

More on the trial: Chauvin put his knee on George Floyd’s neck on May 25, 2020 as Floyd told Chauvin and three other officers that he could not breathe. 

He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.

10:07 a.m. ET, April 2, 2021

Hearing testimony about George Floyd's death can be difficult. Here are some resources that may help.

A mural of George Floyd is shown at the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A mural of George Floyd is shown at the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Witness testimony will continue soon in the trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who's been charged in the death of George Floyd. 

Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May 2020 after Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck while he pleaded, "I can't breathe."

Hearing witnesses testify and dissect second-by-second accounts of the circumstances surrounding Floyd's death can be tough.

Here are some resources that may help:

You can contact any of the organizations above to find peer groups and other group counseling services. These organizations often have affiliates in cities that host group meetings. They offer coping mechanisms to deal with stress, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.

It's always important to speak to someone and not feel that you're facing this alone.

You can find more CNN resources that may help here.