Minneapolis police are taught to restrain combative suspects with a knee on their back or shoulders if necessary but are told to stay away from the neck when possible, a department use-of-force instructor testified Tuesday at former Officer Derek Chauvins murder trial.
Lieutenant Johnny Mercil became the latest member of the Minneapolis force to take the stand as part of an effort by prosecutors to dismantle the argument that Chauvin was doing what he was trained to do when he put his knee on George Floyds neck last May.
Johnny Mercil, a use of force trainer, testifies in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin.
Several experienced US officers, including the police chief himself, have testified that Floyd should not have been kept pinned to the pavement for close to 9 and a half minutes by prosecutors reckoning as the Black man lay face-down, his hands cuffed behind his back.
According to testimony and records submitted Wednesday , Chauvin took a 40-hour course in 2016 on how to recognise people in crisis, including those suffering mental problems or the effects of drug use, and how to use de-escalation techniques to calm them down.
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Sergeant Ker Yang, the Minneapolis police official in charge of crisis-intervention training, said officers are taught to slow things down and re-evaluate and reassess.
Minneapolis Police Crisis Intervention Coordinator Ker Yang.
Records show Chauvin also underwent training in the use of force in 2018. Mercil said those who attended were taught that the sanctity of life is a cornerstone of departmental policy and that officers must use the least amount of force required to get a suspect to comply.
Under cross-examination by Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson, Mercil testified that officers are trained in some situations to use their knee across a suspects back or shoulder and employ their body weight to maintain control.
But Mercil added: We tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible.
Nelson has argued that the now-fired White officer did exactly what he had been trained to do over his 19-year career, and he has suggested that the illegal drugs in Floyds system and his underlying health conditions are what killed him, not Chauvins knee.
In fact, Nelson sought to point out moments in the video footage when he said Chauvins knee did not appear to be on Floyds neck.
Nelson showed Mercil several images taken from officers body-camera videos, asking after each one whether it showed Chauvins knee appearing to rest more on Floyds back, shoulder or shoulder blades than directly on Floyds neck. Mercil often agreed.
Defence attorney Eric Nelson questions Johnny Mercil, a use of force trainer.
Nelson acknowledged the images were difficult to make out. They were taken at different moments during Floyds arrest, starting about four minutes after he was first pinned to the ground, according to time stamps on the images.
In other testimony, Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant serving as a prosecution use-of-force expert, said officers were justified in using force while Floyd was resisting their efforts to put him in a squad car. But once he was on the ground and stopped resisting, at that point the officers should have slowed down or stopped their force as well.
Stiger said that after reviewing video of the arrest, “my opinion was that the force was excessive.
Witness Jody Stiger, a Los Angeles Police Department sergeant.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyds death May 25. Floyd, 46, was arrested outside a neighbourhood market after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit US$20 bill. A panicky-sounding Floyd writhed and claimed to be claustrophobic as police tried to put him in the squad car.
Bystander video of Floyd crying that he couldnt breathe as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him sparked protests around the US that descended into violence in some cases.
Defence attorney Eric Nelson, left, and defendant, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, right, listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides in the trial of Chauvin.
Instead of closing ranks to protect a fellow officer behind what has been dubbed the blue wall of silence, some of the most experienced members of the Minneapolis force have taken the stand to openly condemn Chauvins actions as excessive.
Chauvin had been certified to perform CPR, and Minneapolis Officer Nicole Mackenzie, who trains members of the force in medical care, testified that department policy required him to start aid before paramedics arrived, if possible.
Officers kept restraining Floyd, with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Floyds back and a third holding his feet, until the ambulance got there, even after he became unresponsive, according to testimony and video footage.
Minneapolis Police Officer Nicole Mackenzie.
The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.
Have you have ever had a circumstance where an individual has lost their pulse and suddenly come back to life and become more violent? prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked Mercil, suggesting that Floyd was held down long past the point where he might be a threat.
Not that Im aware of, sir, Mercil replied.
