Moriarty believes that Ross’ testimony is also helpful to the state’s case.
“We haven’t really known anything about why George Floyd was addicted to drugs. We haven’t known that at all,” she explained. “Now we know he had some chronic injuries. He tried prescription pills, and then – like many Americans – he became addicted to the painkillers.”
Moriarty also said that Ross’ testimony may be used to explain Floyd’s tolerance to drugs, having struggled with addiction for some time.
“So the state is going to be arguing, yes, he had a high level of drugs in his system, but it didn’t kill him. It was Chauvin’s actions that did,” she said.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Floyd’s family, released a statement following Ross’ testimony.
“As the defense attempts to construct the narrative that George Floyd’s cause of death was the Fentanyl in his system, we want to remind the world who witnessed his death on video that George was walking, talking, laughing, and breathing just fine before Derek Chauvin held his knee to George’s neck, blocking his ability to breathe and extinguishing his life for all to see,” Crump wrote.
“Tens of thousands of Americans struggle with self-medication and opioid abuse and are treated with dignity, respect and support, not brutality. We fully expected the defense to put George’s character and struggles with addiction on trial because that is the go-to tactic when the facts are not on your side,” he said. “We are confident that the jury will see past that to arrive at the truth – that George Floyd would have lived to see another day if Derek Chauvin hadn’t brutally ended his life in front of a crowd of witnesses pleading for his life.”
