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LAPD
Sgt.
Jody
Stiger
is cross
examined
by
defense
attorney
Eric
Nelson
as Judge
Peter
Cahill
and
Derek
Chauvin
listen
on the
eighth
day of
the
trial of
former
Minneapolis
police
officer
Derek
Chauvin
for
second-degree
murder,
third-degree
murder
and
second-degree
manslaughter
in the
death of
George
Floyd in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
U.S.
April 7,
2021 in
this
courtroom
sketch.
(REUTERS/Jane
Rosenberg)
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"No
force
was
reasonable":
Expert
testifies
in
Chauvin
murder
trial
Jonathan
Allen,
Brendan
O’Brien
reuters.com
MINNEAPOLIS
-An
expert
in the
use of
force by
police
on
Wednesday
faulted
the
actions
of
former
Minneapolis
policeman
Derek
Chauvin
in last
year’s
deadly
arrest
of
George
Floyd,
testifying
that no
force
should
have
been
used
after
Floyd
was
handcuffed
and
prone.
Sergeant
Jody
Stiger
of the
Los
Angeles
Police
Department
answers
questions
during
the
eighth
day of
the
trial of
former
Minneapolis
police
officer
Derek
Chauvin
for
second-degree
murder,
third-degree
murder
and
second-degree
manslaughter
in the
death of
George
Floyd in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
U.S.
April 7,
2021 in
a still
image
from
video.
Pool via
REUTERS
Los
Angeles
Police
Department
Sergeant
Jody
Stiger
appeared
as a
prosecution
witness
at
Chauvin’s
murder
trial,
offering
testimony
intended
to show
that the
defendant
disregarded
his
training
when he
knelt on
Floyd’s
neck for
more
than
nine
minutes
last
May.
Stiger
told
jurors
that
Floyd, a
46-year-old
Black
man,
posed no
immediate
threat
and was
not
actively
resisting
when
Chauvin
used
deadly
force on
him.
“My
opinion
was that
no force
was
reasonable
in that
position,”
Stiger
testified.
“The
pressure
...
caused
by the
body
weight
could
cause
positional
asphyxia
and
could
cause
death.”
Floyd’s
death,
captured
on a
video
widely
viewed
on
social
media,
prompted
protests
against
racism
and
police
brutality
in many
cities
across
the
United
States
and
around
the
world.
Chauvin,
who is
white,
has
pleaded
not
guilty
to
murder
and
manslaughter
charges,
arguing
that he
was
following
the
training
he had
received
in his
19 years
on the
police
force.
Three
other
officers
on the
scene
have
been
charged
with
aiding
and
abetting
murder
and will
stand
trial
later
this
year.
Chauvin
and the
three
other
officers
were
attempting
to
arrest
Floyd on
suspicion
of using
a fake
$20 bill
to buy
cigarettes
at a
food
store.
They
were
fired
the day
after
the
incident.
Here
are some
of the
most
important
moments
from the
eighth
day of
witness
testimony:
LOS
ANGELES
POLICE
DEPARTMENT
SERGEANT
JODY
STIGER,
USE-OF-FORCE
EXPERT
Stiger,
who has
reviewed
2,500
cases in
which
police
used
force,
resumed
his
testimony
after
first
appearing
on
Tuesday.
Prosecutor
Steve
Schleicher
asked
Stiger
to
describe
several
photographs
showing
officers
restraining
Floyd.
Stiger
testified
that it
appeared
Chauvin’s
use of
force
was
excessive.
“He
was
handcuffed,
not
attempting
to
resist,
not
attempting
to
assaulted
officers,
kick,
punch of
that
nature,”
Stiger
said of
Floyd.
Stiger
also
testified
that
Chauvin
squeezed
Floyd’s
hand to
get him
to
comply
with the
officer’s
orders
while he
was
handcuffed
in the
prone
position.
Stiger
testified
that
Floyd
did not
appear
to have
an
opportunity
to
comply.
“At
that
point it
was just
pain,”
Stiger
said.
Stiger
also
testified
that
members
of the
crowd
gathered
at the
scene
did not
figure
into his
assessment
of the
situation
since
they did
not pose
a
threat.
Records
showed
Chauvin
completed
867
hours of
police
training.
Stiger
said
that was
“absolutely”
enough
time to
prepare
him for
this
situation.
Questioned
by
defense
lawyer
Eric
Nelson,
Stiger
agreed
that a
police
officer
needs to
take
into
account
various
factors
during a
fluid
situation
when
considering
using
force.
“It
has to
be
proportional,”
Stiger
said.
“You are
constantly
reassessing
during
the time
frame.”
Stiger
also
agreed
with
Nelson
that
Chauvin
came
upon
such a
situation
in which
a
suspect
was
actively
resisting
officers
who were
trying
to put
him into
a police
squad
car as
people
in a
crowd
yelled
insults
at them,
posing a
“potential
threat.”
Nelson
showed
Stiger
photographs
taken at
different
times of
the
incident
showing
Chauvin
with his
knee on
Floyd.
Nelson
asked
Stiger
whether
he
agreed
that
Chauvin’s
knee was
on
Floyd’s
shoulder
blades
rather
than his
neck.
“It
appears
to be
more
above
the
shoulder
blades
than on
the
shoulder
blades,”
Stiger
testified,
not
agreeing
with
Nelson.
SENIOR
SPECIAL
AGENT
JAMES
REYERSON
OF THE
MINNESOTA
BUREAU
OF
CRIMINAL
APPREHENSION
Prosecutors
then
called
Senior
Special
Agent
James
Reyerson,
an
expert
on the
police
use of
force at
the
Minnesota
Bureau
of
Criminal
Apprehension.
Reyerson
said on
the
night of
the
incident
he was
called
to
Minneapolis
City
Hall
where he
began to
collect
evidence
and
photograph
Chauvin.
Reporting
by
Jonathan
Allen in
Minneapolis
and
Brendan
O’Brien
in
Chicago;
Editing
by Will
Dunham
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