The prosecution: Excerpts from Steve Schleicher's closing argument

"Nine minutes and 29 seconds — during this time George Floyd struggled, desperate to breathe, to make enough room in his chest to breathe. But the force was too much, he was trapped with the unyielding pavement underneath him, as unyielding as the men who held him down. • There's no superhuman strength because there's no such thing as a superhuman. Those exist in comic books, but 38th and Chicago is a very real place. Not superhumans, only humans. Just a human, just a man lying on the pavement being pressed upon, desperately crying out. A grown man crying out for his mother. • The motto of the Minneapolis Police Department is 'To Protect with Courage, To Serve with Compassion.' George Floyd was not a threat to anyone, he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He wasn't trying to do anything to anyone. Facing George Floyd that day did not require one ounce of courage and none was shown. No courage was required, all that was required was a little compassion and none was shown on that day. • But more fundamental than that, and more practical at that time and that place, what George Floyd needed was some oxygen. He needed to breathe. • This case is called the State of Minnesota vs. Derek Chauvin. This case is not called the State of Minnesota vs. the police. • He couldn't breathe. He said he couldn't breathe. The defendant was on top of him. You saw how his body just sort of deflated to the ground • In your custody means in your care. … He knew what to do, he just didn't do it. He knew better, he just didn't do better • The fact is it's so simple that a child could understand it. In fact a child did understand it. A 9-year-old girl who said, "Get off of him." • In your custody is in your care. It's not in your custody, I don't care. • You were told that Mr. Floyd died because his heart was too big. … The reason George Floyd is dead is Mr. Chauvin's heart was too small."