A use-of-force expert testified Tuesday that former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was justified when he knelt on George Floyd’s neck as he tried to arrest him in May, contradicting testimony from other use-of-force experts and the police chief.
The defense witness, Barry Brodd, a former Santa Rosa, California, police officer, also said that he did not believe that the responding officers’ actions — pinning Floyd to the pavement while he was handcuffed facedown with Chauvin’s knee on his neck for what prosecutors have said was 9 minutes, 29 seconds — qualified as a use of force. He said that he believed it was a “control hold” and that he did not think Chauvin was inflicting any pain on Floyd.
