Testimony from Floyd's friend could incriminate him -lawyer
The friend, Morries Hall, was in the car with Floyd when police arrived, setting the stage for the attempt to arrest Floyd.
By REUTERSUpdated: APRIL 7, 2021 03:25Testimony from Floyd's friend could incriminate him -lawyer
Adrienne Cousins, a lawyer for George Floyd's friend Morries Hall who was in the car with Floyd when police arrived, argued in court that if Hall gave testimony in the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin it could potentially incriminate Hall in the future.Before the jury was brought into the court on Tuesday, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill heard arguments on a request by a friend of Floyd to quash a subpoena by prosecutors for him to testify.The friend, Morries Hall, was in the car with Floyd when police arrived, setting the stage for the attempt to arrest Floyd. Hall has said that he would invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination if he had to appear in the witness stand.Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, told Cahill he planned to ask Hall whether he gave Floyd any controlled substances and why Hall left Minnesota immediately after the incident.Floyd's girlfriend, Courteney Ross, testified last week that she and Floyd struggled with opioid addiction, and that she thought Hall sometimes illegally sold pills to Floyd.Cahill decided that most questions Nelson wanted to ask could incriminate Hall. Even so, the judge said Hall should be able to testify on Floyd's condition in the car and whether he fell asleep suddenly after possibly taking opioid pills."I don't see how that would put him closer to criminal liability, just from those observations," Cahill said, giving Nelson until Thursday to draft potential questions.The New York Times reports Hall is currently in jail on unrelated charges.