Derek Chauvin trial: Witnesses questioned by lawyers

Jena Scurry, a 911 dispatcher who watched Floyd’s encounter with police unfold on a fixed police camera, was the first witness to take the stand Monday.

Scurry began by explaining the tools she utilizes to do her job. She said dispatchers have access to cameras that are placed around the city.

Opening statements have wrapped.

Floyd was struggling with officers who were trying to get him in a squad car when Chauvin arrived on the scene, Nelson said.

After Chauvin asked whether Floyd was under arrest, he assisted the other officers in their attempts to get Floyd in the car.

The struggle was so profound that the squad car could be seen rocking back and forth in a fixed police camera. The image caught the attention of a police dispatcher, Nelson said.

Chauvin then used what is called a "maximal restraint technique" to restrain Floyd, Nelson said.

"You will learn that Derek Chauvin did exactly what he was trained to do over the course of his 19-year career," Nelson said.

Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense attorney, emphasized during his opening statement that the evidence for the case is "far greater than 9 minutes and 29 seconds."

The evidence has been collected "broadly and expansively" and includes several police experts and at least 200 civilian witnesses, Nelson said.

Nelson will spend the trial talking about "reason and common sense and how that applies to the evidence," Nelson said.

The store clerk at Cup Foods who accused Floyd of making a purchase with a fake $20 bill will be among those who testify, Nelson said.

Attorneys will also question one of Floyd’s friends who was in the Mercedes-Benz after he left the store. The friend previously stated that Floyd consumed what she believed to be two Percocet pills before police arrived. Floyd then fell asleep, Nelson said.

When officers arrived, Floyd put drugs in his mouth in an effort to conceal them from police, Nelson said.