Two lawyers for George Floyd’s family have said jurors in Derek Chauvin’s trial should look beyond Mr. Floyd’s drug use after his girlfriend testified Thursday about their joint struggles with drug addiction .
The attorneys, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, said in a statement that Mr. Chauvin’s attorney was focusing on Mr. Floyd’s drug use “because it’s the tactic of choice when the facts aren’t clear.” your side ”, and that Mr. Floyd was long before the police were called. A day earlier, prosecutors released surveillance footage inside Cup Foods, the convenience store where a clerk reported that Mr. Floyd had used a fake $ 20 bill, showing Mr. Floyd in the minutes leading up to the arrival of the police.
“We want to remind the world who witnessed his death on video that George was walking, talking, laughing and breathing great before Derek Chauvin held his knee to George’s neck,” Mr. Crump and Mr. Romanucci said. . Mr. Chauvin faces second degree murder charges in the trial, which entered its fourth day on Thursday.
Prosecutors had called Mr Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, to the stand and were the first to ask him questions about Mr Floyd’s drug use, apparently in an attempt to dismiss l Counsel for Mr. Chauvin that the drugs could have caused Mr. Floyd’s illness. dead or caused him to struggle more with the police.
Ms Ross said that she and Mr Floyd both continued to use opioids after initially being prescribed the pills to treat chronic pain. She said Mr Floyd relapsed in May 2020 – the month she died – and took a different pill that month, the contents of which she was unaware of, but believed to be more of a stimulant. An autopsy from the Hennepin County medical examiner found Mr Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system when he died.
Lawyers for Mr. Floyd’s family have said thousands of people with drug addiction “are treated with dignity, respect and support, not brutality.”
