Prosecution rests in federal trial of former cops involved in George Floyd's death

Former officer Thomas Lane is expected to testify in his own defense.

Prosecutors rested their case on Monday in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights during his fatal 2020 arrest.

The prosecution presented its case in roughly three weeks in spite of a recess being called for several days after one of the defendants tested positive for COVID-19. Prosecutors called many of the same witnesses who testified in the state trial of Derek Chauvin, the three defendants' one-time senior officer, who was convicted of murdering Floyd by digging his knee in the back of the 46-year-old Black man's neck for more than nine minutes.

Among the final slate of witnesses prosecutors called before wrapping up the evidence portion of their case was Dr. Andrew Baker, the chief Hennepin County medical examiner, who conducted the autopsy on Floyd and ruled his death a homicide.

Floyd’s cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression, Baker testified. He told the jury he intentionally didn’t watch the videos of Floyd’s death before he completed the autopsy because he didn’t want to have any preconceived notions about the case.