In his opening statement, Derek Chauvin’s defense attorney revealed that George Floyd concealed pills containing meth and fentanyl from officers in his mouth.
Eric Nelson, the lead defense attorney for Officer Derek Chauvin, who stand accused of murder after George Floyd died during his custody at the end of May last year, made his opening statements in Chauvin’s trial on Monday morning.
Floyd, who was 47 when he died, purchased cigarettes at a local corner shop with a counterfeit $20 bill, with the police called on him as a result. The manager of the store allegedly asked him to either exchange the fake bill for a real one or return the cigarettes, but Floyd refused, according to Nelson’s statement.
Before the police arrived, Floyd spent between 20 and 30 minutes in a Mercedes Benz car with his friends. “While they were in the car, Mr Floyd consumed what were thought to be two percocet pills,” Nelson said in his statement, revealing that his friends will later testify that “Mr Floyd fell asleep in the car, and that they couldn’t wake him up.”
