Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in death of George Floyd

Nelson took down several of the doctors the prosecution brought on as witnesses, stating that they were incorrect in their testimonies.

Nelson criticized cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Rich, who concluded that Floyd had a strong heart despite a 90% narrowing of the right coronary artery, a 75% narrowing in the left anterior descending artery, enlarged heart and history of hypertension.

The testimonies of Rich and an additional four doctors fly "in the absolute face of reason and common sense," especially in the testimony that none of Floyd’s preexisting conditions contributed to his death, Nelson said.

"It’s astounding," he said.

Prosecutors have a laundry list of items to prove in order for Chauvin to be convicted, Nelson said.

The state’s burden of proof includes proving that Floyd’s heart disease, history of hypertension and toxicology levels played no role in his death, Nelson said.

The state must also convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Floyd was not experiencing excited delirium that contributed to his death and that the adrenaline produced as a result Floyd's physical resistance played no role, Nelson said.

Nelson argued that Chauvin had no intent to purposefully use unlawful force.

"Officer Chauvin made a decision not to use higher levels of force when he would have been authorized to do that, including punches, kicks, elbows," Nelson said.

"All of these tools were available to Officer Chauvin," Nelson said, adding that officers called for EMS within one minute of putting Floyd on the ground.

Chauvin was occupied with a hostile crowd when Floyd took his last breath, making it difficult to perform CPR, Nelson said.

It is written in the Minneapolis Police Department to stop CPR when it is no longer safe to perform it, Nelson said, citing the testimony by Minneapolis Police Officer Nicole Mackenzie, the department's medical support officer, who discussed the difficulty of performing CPR in hostile environments.  

"She described how it's incredibly difficult to perform EMS efforts in a loud crowd, difficult to focus when you don't feel safe, makes it more difficult to assess a patient and makes it more likely you can miss signs that a patient is experiencing something," Nelson said. "So the distraction, she said, can actually do harm to a patient."