MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Lt. Richard Zimmerman testified Friday that a knee on the neck was deadly force. He didn’t explain why, he simply said it was lethal. The prosecutor Matthew Frank didn’t follow-up with questions that would further explain this conclusion. There was no discussion of carotid restraint versus collapsing the trachea, etc. A knee on the neck “can kill them,” the lieutenant testified.
Ultimately, Chauvin’s defense attorney Eric Nelson got Zimmerman to acknowledge that a use of force opinion should come from a current use of force instructor/expert since he (Zimmerman) has worked in secondary investigations (detectives) for roughly the past 27 years and does not train officers in current use of force methods. Nevertheless, his opinion — despite policy that allowed this kind of physical restraint — was left with the jury.
