A prior post discussed the testimony of the first 11 prosecution witnesses: Kimberly Meline, Charles McMillian, Jena Scurry, Christopher Martin, Derek Smith, Genevieve Hansen, Jeremy Norton, Katie Blackwell, Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, Andrew Baker and Christopher Douglas.[1]
Another post discussed the testimony of the next eight prosecution witnesses: Dr. David M. Systrom, Jr., Nicole Mackenzie, Vik Bebarta, McKenzie Anderson, Richard Zimmerman, Kelly McCarthy, Alyssa Funari and Matthew Vogel. [2]
This post provides resources that discuss the February 14th testimony of the prosecution’s final witnesses: Timothy Longo, Jr. and Darnella Fraser. [3]
Timothy Longo, Jr.
A veteran of the Baltimore Police Department and Associate Vice President for Safety and Security at the University of Virginia, Longo testified that the three ex-MPD officers failed in their duty to care for George Floyd and that their restraining him on the ground was “inconsistent with generally accepted police practices.” More specifically, he faulted their “decision to put Floyd stomach-down on the ground, their failure to sit or stand him up and their failure to provide medical aid when he stopped breathing and showed no pulse.” Their duty “to care for . . . restrained subject[s] is ‘absolute’ because they’re no longer able to take care of themselves.”
Moreover, when one officer is using illegal force, other officers at the scene have a duty to “do something to stop the [illegal] behavior” and that duty is not dependent on rank or experience. “It’s a responsibility of everyone that’s there to do something.” In short, an officer has a duty to take “affirmative steps to stop another officer from using excessive force. “The term ‘intervene’ is a verb, it’s an action word. It requires an act . And what you do is, stop the behavior.”
Moreover, according to Longo, the appropriate legal force that may be used on a suspect is only enough to accomplish the objective in light of the seriousness of the alleged crime, whether the subject was a threat, environmental conditions and the presence of others at the scene.
Longo also testified that his review of the relevant evidence did not find any indication that Floyd posed a threat to anyone and that he simply did not want to get into a squad car because he was scared and having trouble breathing.
In short, in Longo’s opinion, Chauvin’s actions were “wholly contrary” to generally accepted police use of force policies.
On cross examination, Longo admitted he has close ties to the U.S. Department of Justice and Hennepin County prosecutors by testifying for the prosecution in the criminal case against former Minneapolis policeman Mohammed Noor. Yet he testified for two Baltimore police officers in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in the back of a police van even though Gray was handcuffed with his legs tied.
Darnella Fraser[4]
Fraser, then age 16, was at the scene of George Floyd’s detention by the four MPD police officers and took the now infamous six-plus minute video of that restraint. Moments after she took the stand, she began crying and said, “I can’t do it. I’m sorry.” Then after the Judge took a short break, she resumed her testimony. She testified that she saw Floyd on the ground with Chauvin’s knee on his neck. He looked very uncomfortable and kept saying, “I can’t breathe.” At the same time, Thao looked like he was protecting and patrolling the area. I didn’t see George Floyd resist at all. The only thing I saw him do was really try to find comfort in his situation—try to breathe and get more oxygen.”
“I knew Floyd needed medical care when he became unresponsive. Over time, he kind of just became weaker and eventually stopped making sounds overall.”
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[1] Federal Criminal Trial for Killing of George Floyd: Prosecution Witnesses (Part I), dwkcommentaries.com (Feb. 2, 2022).
[2] Federal Criminal Trial for Killing of George Floyd: Prosecution Witnesses (Part II), dwkcommentaries.com (Feb. 11, 2022).
[3] Olson & Xiong, Veteran officer: Cops failed in their duty to provide care for George Floyd while in custody, StarTribune (Feb. 14, 2022); Olson & Xiong, At least two ex-officers plan to testify in federal civil rights trial as defense prepares to present its case, StarTribune (Feb. 14, 2022). Forliti & Karnowski, Expert takes issue with officers’ conduct in Floyd killing, AP News (Feb. 14, 2022); Foriiti & Karnowski, Prosecution rests in 3 cops’ trial in George Floyd killing. AP News (Feb. 14, 2022),
[4] See also these posts to dwkcommentaries: Derek Chauvin Trial: Week Four (April 2, 2021); Witnessing (April 25, 2021); Darnella Fraser’s Continued Witnessing (May 26, 2021); More Honors for Darnella Fraser (June 12, 2021).
