UNSPECIFIED LOCATION AND DATE: (EDITORS NOTE: Best quality available) In this handout provided by Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin poses for a mugshot after being charged in the death of George Floyd . Bail for Chauvin, who is charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, is set at $500,000. The death sparked riots and protests in cities throughout the country after Floyd, a black man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo by Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)
On Thursday, Derek Chauvin decided to not testify and invoked his 5th amendment right in his case of killing George Floyd.
Chauvin assured Judge Peter Cahill that his decision to not testify was solely left up to him, and he was well informed by his lawyer several times.
“I have repeatedly advised you that this is your decision and your decision alone,” his attorney Eric Nelson said to Chauvin in front of the court.
Under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” according to KARE 11.
As previously reported, Dr. Martin Tobin, a native of Co Kilkenny now based in the Chicago area, was called back to the stand in order to testify and debunk the defense’s witness, Dr. David Fowler’s, theory that George Floyd may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning from the squad car of the officer.
He stated, “If hemoglobin is saturated at 98 percent, it tells you all there was for everything else is two percent, so the maximum amount of carbon monoxide would be two percent.”
Blackwell asked, “So in other words, as to the statement that his [Floyd’s] carboxyhemoglobin could have increased by 10 to 18 percent, in your view, that’s not possible?”
“It’s simply wrong,” Dr. Tobin said, adding that Floyd’s level was at most 2 percent, which is “normal.”
Closing arguments are set to begin Monday.
Want tea directly in your text inbox? Hit us up at 917-722-8057 or click here to join!
