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Continuing Coverage of Derek Chauvin Trial; Defense Gives Closing Arguments. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 19, 2021 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The defense is scheduled to resume their closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin trial after a short break that the judge called because it's gone on so long and the jury apparently was hungry.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: That's what the judge said.

BLACKWELL: Yes. CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell is with us now from outside that courthouse. Josh, give us an idea of the color in the courtroom, the jury. What were they doing as this was going on for more than 2 1/2 hours?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, we're getting some of those reports from our colleagues inside. And I'll say at the outset, it's always difficult to read too much into a jury's actions, when they're taking notes or when they're listening, but there have been, according to some of those reports, a couple jurors who have appeared somewhat agitated, especially during the defense's portion.

And that could be due to the length of time that it's been going on. Hard to read too much into that. But that was notable.

But there were two other instances that were really worth mentioning. The first is when it goes back to that prosecutor, Schleicher, who is obviously working on behalf of the state, when he started out it was slow, it was methodical, there were a lot of jurors that were taking notes. But as he started to ramp up, he really captivated them. Jurors stopped writing. He had their full attention as he was explaining the state's case.

For their part, the defense had one of those moments as well, and that was when he was -- the defense attorney was talking about the amount of strength that someone might have when they're under the influence. All of the jurors, according to the reports, all of the jurors started taking note of that and paying attention.

So, the jurors, you know, we don't know how many have already potentially started making up their mind, how many of them are really waiting for these closing arguments in order to, you know, make that decision on what their personal verdicts will be.

As far as what else is going on inside the courtroom that we cannot see, as we mentioned, there are two seats there. There's one seat reserved for the Floyd family. That has been occupied by George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd. There is also a seat for the representative of the Chauvin family. That's been represented by an unidentified woman who's been in there throughout.

Now, where we are right now, as this is taking place, as we've said, the jury is on their brief lunch break. That abruptly called by the judge in and around this area, security is very tight. As we've been describing police, members of the National Guard.

We don't expect a verdict to come today. Deliberations will start today but as with most trials you never know what the timeline would be. But the city is nevertheless on full alert as well as the state. A number of members of the National Guard also on standby to come in.

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We also know that on Wednesday, the city here will move all the schools to distance learning. They don't want children and parents and buses and the like out and about. Just unsure what the results of this verdict would be and what the resulting protests could possibly be. So that is notable as well. The security precautions that they're taking.

Finally, once we get back, what we're going to hear is the defense. They're going to complete their closing argument and then we'll hear the prosecutors. They get the final say. They will have their rebuttal, that given by State Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell.

The judge, as we understand it, will give some additional instructions to the jury. That's expected to be a lot more brief. He gave those lengthy instructions earlier this morning, but nevertheless, he will have some words for the jury before they end, and they will begin their deliberations.

It's also worth noting this particular jury will be sequestered, which means they will be in hotels in the evening. They will not be allowed to go home. The judge telling them they can have some contact with their families but admonishing them to talk to no one about this case other than their fellow jurors.

So, closing arguments ending today. Deliberations will start. Then we will wait and obviously see what the verdict will be.

BLACKWELL: All right, Josh Campbell for us outside the courthouse, thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: Cities are preparing for the eventual verdict in the Chauvin case. Tensions are high, not just in Minneapolis but across the country over concerns that there could be unrest or violence. CNN correspondent Adrienne Broaddus is in Minneapolis. So Adrienne, tell us what the mood is there on the street right now. ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, anywhere you

drive downtown Minneapolis, Alisyn, you will see either a boarded up building or members of the National Guard. Downtown Minneapolis is beautiful, but that beauty is hidden because so many of the buildings are boarded up.

If you drive around town near the Hennepin Government Center, you'll notice some business owners have written "open" on the boards because they want people to know, hey, we're still open.

And this is all coming at a tough time for many folks. Keep in mind, we're still in the middle of a pandemic. And for a great deal of time, they've been shut down. And behind me Guard members have been protecting this police station, which is downtown.

Throughout the weekend. I wanted to hear from Minnesotans, I wanted to know what they were thinking, what was on their hearts. And here's what some of them had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm concerned for our community no matter what the verdict is.

MAYOR MELVIN CARTER (D), SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA: At some point, this trial also becomes a trial of our criminal justice system, a trial of our court system. If this system is capable yet of valuing black and brown lives, we're going to see that. And we fully expect that if the answer again is no that people will be very frustrated.

Our goal is to channel that frustration, that anger, that energy into ways that are constructive to help us build a better future for our children and not in ways that are destructive.

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BROADDUS: And the last person you heard from was Mayor Melvin Carter. He's the mayor in St. Paul. And I think it's important to underscore, first, obviously, he's a black man. He's also the mayor. But he's also the son of a former officer. His father served the St. Paul Police Department for nearly three decades, so he has a different lens, a different experience.

He is letting the world know, this is not an attack on policing. This is a call to action, to change policing, and not just here in the Twin Cities, but across the country -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That is really good context. And you also have I think an interesting lens. I mean you've lived in this area. And so watching these small business owners board up, watching the police prepare, I guess, what is it like for you to see the city in this way?

BROADDUS: It feels like, here we go again. The Twin Cities -- I lived here for seven years and I still adore the Twin Cities. A big piece of my heart is here. My family is here. And right now the world is seeing the ugly part of Minneapolis, the

ugly part of the Twin Cities, especially following the shooting death of Daunte Wright. But there's so much beauty here in the Twin Cities and across Minnesota.

And we saw it on display after the death of George Floyd. Everybody came together. There was unity. Like you see so much negativity taking place in the streets at night, but during the day, there's a lot of positivity. Behind closed doors, people are getting together and they're planning. They want to change how things are here.

Like for example, I spoke with Leslie Redmond, she's the former President of the NAACP. And her push is don't complain, activate. She's been around the community since last summer, 11 months ago, activating people, getting people involved, and amplifying voices we don't normally hear from.

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So, you asked me how do I feel? What is it like? I know there's so much good in this community. And right now, it feels like Minnesota is a case study to change and root out some deep, serious issues, starting with the complex issue of racism.

CAMEROTA: Adrienne, it's really, really helpful to get your perspective on all of this, particularly because you have that connection there. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you very much -- Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: And next, the defense is scheduled to resume the closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin trial. What shall we expect? We'll talk about that next.

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BLACKWELL: Details about cardon monoxide. Where does that go and what's your reaction that being, you know, the first element here?

Hup. Looks like we'll have to go back the courthouse.

ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Before the break we were talking about the controlled substances and the role they were -- the levels that they were found in, the role that they may have applied or contributed to Mr. Floyd's death.

And I was suggesting to you that it is, again, this death needs to be looked at -- Mr. Floyd's death needs to be looked at as Dr. Baker describes a multifactorial process.

This is the way the human body works. The heart beats, the lung breathes, the blood circulates, the brain thinks, the brain controls all of our movements, right, all of this.

And to simply come in and say, this particular substance or these combinations of substances, when taken in combination with each other, when taken in combination with -- of a person who has blockage in the heart, substantial, significant blockage in the heart, when we know that these drugs play a particular role in the -- in how the blood circulates, to just poo-poo it and say it has nothing to do with anything is just really a preposterous notion.

Yet Dr. Baker, Dr. Fowler, and Dr. Thomas have all certified deaths at levels less than 11 nanograms per milliliter or 19 nanograms or combination, right. These deaths have been certified on that basis alone. And it didn't necessarily contain any of the other issues that were confronting Mr. Floyd on that day.

Likewise, again, every other doctor that has testified has gone to great lengths to dismiss the role of Mr. Floyd's heart disease and hypertension in this case.

Forensic pathologists define coronary artery disease resulting in death, that death can occur with 70 to 75 percent blockage. That is sufficient to cause the -- a person's death. Every pathologist who testified in this case has indicated likewise, that they have certified deaths with those types of blockage and attributed it to the coronary artery disease.

Yet here again, this has played zero role. Dr. Rich testified Mr. Floyd had a healthy heart. Coronary heart disease, not relevant, according to the state. Hypertensive disease, not relevant. Drugs acting to further constrict an already deceased heart, not relevant. Adrenaline coursing through Mr. Floyd's body, not relevant.

What does adrenaline do? It further constricts the arteries, right. Adrenaline from the paraganglioma wasn't there, didn't happen, played no role.

They just want you to ignore significant medical issues that presented to Mr. Floyd. And the failure of the state's experts to acknowledge any possibility, any possibility at all that any of these other factors in any way contributed to Mr. Floyd's death defies medical science and it defies common sense and reason.

Now, Doctor Tobin describes the death of Mr. Floyd essentially, as I understand again, to hypoxia, low oxygen, resulting in brain -- going to the brain. Low oxygen to the brain.

Dr. Fowler also ascribes the death to hypoxic death but that the heart was the muscle that did not get the oxygen. Resulting in a sudden cardiac arrythmia.

The reasons that Dr. Fowler dismissed the notion of brain hypoxia are because, number one, hypoxia of the brain results in certain observable symptoms. The brain demands more oxygen, right. It takes 20 percent of our oxygen to function the brain, even though it's a smaller percentage of our body.

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It is the most sensitive to the loss of oxygen, and it reveals a progressive set of symptoms, confusion which was not exhibited, right, because if you compare the -- if you compare the testimony about how -- whether Mr. Floyd was intoxicated, well, he didn't exhibit any confusion, right?

Restlessness not exhibited. Shortness of breath, it was complained of but that is also a sensation that can be caused by a sudden cardiac arrhythmia.

Visual changes. Not complained of. Incoherent speaking. Not complained of. When someone is experiencing hypoxia to the brain as Dr. Tobin stated, you would see an increased ventilation or respiratory rate. Dr. Tobin said it is a completely normal respiratory rate. 22 breaths per minute.

The timeline in this case is consistent with a sudden cardiac arrhythmia. At 8:23:58 Mr. Floyd speaks. I really can't breathe. If you can speak you have oxygen in your brain. At 8:24:09, he again verbalizes, please, I can't breathe indicating at 8:24:09 that his brain has oxygen and there is no impairment to his airway. 39 seconds later, Mr. Floyd goes limp at 8:24:48. A person can hold their breath for 39 seconds, right? That does not result in hypoxia in 39 seconds.

27 seconds later, according to Dr. Tobin, Mr. Floyd takes his last breath. It's a total of 66 seconds. One minute and six seconds from the time that we know that there's enough oxygen in his brain to speak, no occlusion to the airway at that point, 66 seconds to his -- from his last word to his last breath.

This timeline is consistent with a sudden cardiac arrhythmia. It is not consistent with the longer process of brain hypoxia. Dr. Fowler's final analysis was that Mr. Floyd died from a cardiac arrhythmia due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardio-vascular disease during restraint by police.

Other significant factors, fentanyl intoxication, methamphetamine intoxication, possible CO, carbon monoxide exposure and the paraganglioma.

What role did Mr. -- did carbon monoxide play in Mr. Floyd's death? We don't know. Nothing was ever tested as far as the vehicle is concerned. We don't know if the car was emitting carbon monoxide. We don't know.

One thing we do know is that it was running, and how can we tell that it was running? Because in the video we watched earlier when Thomas Lane pulls in that squad car at Cup Foods, he puts it in gear -- he takes it out of gear, he puts in park, he never touches the keys of that vehicle and he gets out. The car was running.

I have one last point to make. And I should be fairly quick with this. The superseding cause that was discussed. A superseding cause is a cause that comes after the defendant's acts, alters the natural sequence of events and is the sole cause of a result that would not have otherwise occurred.

Now, let's look at the medical timeline here. We know that EMS was called initially at code 2 at 8:20:11. We know that EMS was stepped up to code 3 at 8:21:35. We know that EMS responded to Cup Foods based on the videos at 8:27:27.

We know that EMS called for fire at 20:38:36. It takes approximately three minutes for EMS and the arresting officers to put Mr. Floyd into the ambulance and the ambulance pulls away from Cup Foods at 8:30:17.

Fire responds to Cup Foods at 8:32:59. That's 4 minutes and 15 seconds after they were called.

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That's pretty close in consideration of the three-minute expectation of Miss Hansen. But the ambulance had driven several blocks away to 36 and Park arriving sometime between 8:31 and 8:33.

And we know that because there are two Exhibits, 62 and 63 that were introduced. 62 shows one paramedic and Officer Lane in the back. 63 shows two paramedics and Officer Lane in the back.

So somewhere between a minute and a half to three minutes to get to 36 and Park where they began the resuscitative efforts.

The first air is pumped into Mr. Floyd per Dr. Tobin at 20:35:06. That is ten minutes after Mr. Floyd went unconscious per Dr. Tobin, but it is 7 minutes and 46 seconds after EMS responded to Cup Foods.

We ultimately know that the ambulance left 36 and Park at 8:48:23. It arrived at HCMC at 8:53, shortly after 8:53, so it took about five minutes to get from 36 and Park to HCMC.

What if you -- what would have happened if EMS had started resuscitative efforts right away? What would have happened if rather than driving at 36 and Park they went to the hospital? They would have been there in that time.

I am not suggesting to you -- I am not suggesting to you that the ambulance paramedics did anything wrong, but it raises the prospect of that continued delay in resuscitation. What if EMS had administered Narcan? We heard that it would not have hurt him, and it could have helped him.

I'm not blaming the paramedics. More importantly in this analysis is, it shows that human beings make decisions in highly stressful situations that they believe to be right in the very moment that it is occurring.

There's lots of what ifs that could have happened, what could have happened, what should have happened. Lots of them in lots of regards.

But we have to analyze this case from the perspective of a reasonable police officer at the precise moment with the totality of the circumstances when it comes to the use of force. We have to look at the cause of death to determine did Mr. Floyd die exclusively of asphyxia, or were there other contributing factors that were not the natural result of Mr. Chauvin's acts, right?

Things that happened that were set in motion before Mr. Chauvin ever arrived, the drug ingestion, right? The bad heart, the diseased heart, the hypertension. All of these things existed before Mr. Chauvin arrived.

The struggle, what role did the struggle play? We know based on a prior incident that Mr. Floyd's heart was beating at 219/160 in a situation where he was confronted by police and had ingested drugs. He didn't die that day.

All of this, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, all of this when you take into consideration the presumption of innocence, the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I would submit to you that it is nonsense to suggest that none of these other factors have any -- any role. That is not reasonable.

And when you as members of the jury conclude your analysis of the evidence, when you reviewed the entirety of the evidence, when you review the law as written and you conclude it all within this -- all within a thorough honest analysis, the state has failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and, therefore, Mr. Chauvin should be found not guilty of all counts. Thank you.

JUDGE PETER CAHILL, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: Members of the jury, there's an issue I need to discuss with the lawyers, so we're going to send you back to your room for probably about five minutes.

END