The first witness of today’s proceedings in the Chauvin trial was Courteney Ross, described as George Floyd’s fiancé. Both she had Floyd had lengthy struggles with opioid addiction, which she testified about at length. It was a pretty traditional narrative of drug addiction, for both of them.
On cross-examination by defense counsel Eric Nelson, however, there was a rather remarkable revelation.
Courteney Ross was listed in Floyd’s cell phone under the name “Mama.”
We’ve all seen the heart tugging video of Floyd restrained on the ground by officers after resisting lawful arrest, calling out repeatedly for “Mama.” I expect we’ve all presumed he was calling out for his mother, who I believe had passed away shortly before Floyd’s the May 25, 2020 date of Floyd’s arrest.
Now, however, one must wonder whether Floyd was calling out for his deceased mother, or whether he was calling out for his co-addict fiancé, Courteney Ross.
I feel obliged to note immediately that this revelation ought have little effect on the merits of this trial.
So why mention it at all?
Because the prosecution narrative in this case has for a year been driven almost entirely by emotional pleading, particularly the purported desperate cries of Floyd for his dead mother just moments before his death.
Certainly the prosecution already knew that Courteney Ross was also called “Momma” by Floyd, yet they never made that information available to the public, allowing the public to believe there was no question but that Floyd was calling out for his mother?
Why would they do that, if they were genuinely interested in transparency and justice?
Or are they, perhaps, is the prosecution perhaps not all that interested in transparency and justice?
On a separate note, a key issue in the case is whether Floyd was killed by Chauvin’s knee, or whether Floyd was killed by a self-ingested drug overdose. This applies not just to Floyd’s death, but all the physiological symptoms preceding Floyd’s death, such as his complaints of intense stomach and other body pain, as well as his foaming at the mouth.
Ross testified this morning about a March 2020 event in which she arrived at Floyd’s home after he had consumed some illicit pills of uncertain origin. He was in desperate physical condition, doubled over from stomach pain, to the point where she drove him to the emergency room. She also testified he had foam around his mouth.
This reaction to these pills match the physical symptoms of Floyd during his arrest, providing an alternative explanation for Floyd’s complaints of pain and foaming mouth during the arrest other than Chauvin’s knee being the cause.
OK, folks, that’s all I have time for while the court is in a brief morning break recess, but we’ll have more details in our end-of-day wrap-up commentary and analysis after the court adjourns for the day.
Anyone interested in a free podcast version of our daily legal commentary and analysis of the Chauvin trial, you can find that available at the Law of Self Defense News/Q&A Podcast, available on most every podcast platform, including Pandora, iHeart, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, simple RSS feed, and more.
Until then, stay safe!
–Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
Attorney Andrew F. Branca’s legal practice has specialized exclusively in use-of-force law for thirty years. Andrew provides use-of-force legal consultancy services to attorneys across the country, as well as near-daily use-of-force law insight, expertise, and education to lawyers and non-lawyers alike in the form of blog posts, video, and podcasts, through the Law of Self Defense Membership service. If this kind of content is of interest to you, try out our two-week Membership trial for a mere 99 cents, with a 200% no-question- asked money-back guarantee, here: Law of Self Defense Membership Trial.
[Featured image is a screen capture from video of today’s court proceedings in MN v. Chauvin.]
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