Posted on 04/01/2021 4:47:44 PM PDT by Navy Patriot
A key witness who was with George Floyd on the day he died has informed the court that he will invoke the Fifth Amendment if asked to testify in Derek Chauvin's murder trial.
...
Morries Lester Hall had outstanding warrants for his arrest on felony possession of a firearm, felony domestic assault and felony drug possession.
Prosecutors and defense attorney Eric Nelson also listed Hall as a potential witness in the trial of Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, reports said.
...
An official said Hall initially gave a false name to officers after Floyd's death. He then left Minneapolis and was tracked down in Texas and arrested due to outstanding warrants ...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
People expect him to admit to counterfeiting? In open court?
No thanks.
Or selling the tainted drugs that caused death.
Lemme guess... in addition to his criminal CV, Hall is an aspiring rapper who’s recently begun the process of putting his life back together.
I believe he sold George the Fentanyl that killed him.
How does a WITNESS plead the 5th?
He sold him the drugs and passed him the counterfeit note. He won’t, and can’t be compelled, to testify he did such.
He will be admitting to criminal activity, and his testimony can used against him in a later trial. Admission is 9/10 of a conviction, sworn testimony probably bumps that up a bit.
Actually it's common but must be done correctly by the witiness, it can take the court by surprise when incompetent counsel and the Judge are unaware that a witness has committed a crime that the witness' testimony will reveal.
If Mr. Hall got Floyd the drugs, they wouldn’t want anyone thinking he was more responsible for Floyd’s death than was Chauvin, would they?
He’s already on the hook for that, after Floyd’s girlfriend tatted him out today.
Derek Chauvin should lose the badge, obviously. But if this key witness refuses to testify against George Floyd, this should be it. Not enough evidence to determine the cause of George Floyd’s death. Derek Chauvin should be free. (I can’t say for certain, just a view as a spectator from the upper deck)
Prosecution could grant him immunity for his testimony but that could end up coming back to haunt them.
Hall tried a fake name and going on the lam, but got caught again.
The Prosecution immediately realized Hall was useless to them because they could not suborn perjury, and Hall could not SELECTIVELY invoke the Fifth.
Best chance of a conviction would be for Hall to never exist anywhere around this case and for the Jury to never hear anything about him.
Likely with this petition to the court the Jury will learn of Hall and his fear of Justice.
It seems like a ridiculous dereliction of duty on the part of the prosecutor to ever let it get this far. If Chauvin can't call this guy as a witness, then he has effectively been stripped of his constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to compel witnesses to testify at his trial.
This may even be clear grounds for a dismissal of the case ... which may be what the prosecutor wanted all along anyway when it botched the process of dealing with this witness.
Not "could", ... WOULD, big time.
Both were good boys. Thats all we can be certain of. /sarc
If he’s given immunity he must testify. Of course, he’s a defense witness so the prosecution will not offer immunity.
:)
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