Defence begins at trial of ex-police officer accused over George Floyd death

Defence lawyer Eric Nelson, left, speaks as defendant, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, listens at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Court TV, via AP/Pool)

The defence has begun its case at the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused over the death of George Floyd.

Chauvin’s lawyers seized on a 2019 confrontation between police and Mr Floyd in which the 46-year-old suffered dangerously high blood pressure and confessed to heavy use of opioid painkillers.