MINNEAPOLIS — The paramedic who first rendered aid to an unresponsive George Floyd testified Wednesday that Floyd was likely already dead in the officers' restraint when he arrived.
Derek Smith, a paramedic for Hennepin Healthcare, recounted the events in the civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who were on scene that evening. Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng stand accused of failing to render aid to Floyd. Smith was the latest witness to take the stand in a pattern that so far repeats testimony in last year's state trial for Derek Chauvin, the officer Martin saw on Floyd's neck. Chauvin was convicted of murder in April.
Smith testified that he and his partner arrived to the scene after they were dispatched on a Code 2, or non emergency lights and sirens call. Soon afterward, the call was upgraded to a more urgent Code 3.
