Judge blocks alleged Floyd drug dealer from testifying over fears of self incrimination and unreliable testimony

Judge Peter Cahill denied a request from Eric Nelson, Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's defense attorney, to allow the jury to hear the 90 minute conversation Morries Hall had with state investigators, stating that "there is nothing in the statement to indicate it was trustworthy which is required for it to be presented under an exception to the hearsay rule," according to Law & Crime.

Hall had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination last week when he refused to testify. Hall's defender, Adrienne Cousins, said that his testimony could lead to a potential third-degree murder charge because of Hall's drug connection with Floyd, according to the Daily Wire.

"Your honor, I cannot envision any topic that Mr. Hall would be called to testify on that would be both relevant to the case that would not incriminate him," said Cousins last week. "Mr. Hall’s testimony in these matters would specifically put him in the position of being in very close proximity to Mr. Floyd, in a vehicle where drugs were found during a search by police following Floyd’s death."

In Hall's statement, he described the day and moments leading up to when police showed up.

Prosecutors said that Hall gave a false name when he and Shawanda Hill were talking to officer Thomas Lane that day due to felony warrants out for his arrest. Hall, according to Law & Crime, "faces charges of solicitation, sex trafficking in the second degree, promoting prostitution and two counts of controlled substances crimes involving possession of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, tramadol and two other drugs."

After May 25, Hall left Minneapolis and was arrested by Texas Rangers. He was interviewed by Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents, and told Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank that he did not give Floyd any drugs that day.

"There’s a lot about Mr. Hall’s statement that is self-serving and unreliable. He denies giving any pills to Mr. Floyd, he denies having pills. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that’s not true," said Frank.

Hall confessed to Frank that he possessed counterfeit $20 bills that day, the reason the cops were originally called on Floyd.

Courteney Ross testified earlier this month that Floyd had previously bought drugs from Hall, and how they both had previously suffered from opioid addiction. She has suggested to Nelson that Floyd may have relapsed leading up to May 25.

"She believed Floyd was 'clean' for the majority of time following the apparent overdose—up until roughly two weeks or so before his death when she “noticed a change in his behavior,” according to Law & Crime.

"He describes they had to shake Mr. Floyd awake many times," Nelson said in reference to Hall's statement. "He freely answered the agents’ questions about where he and Mr. Floyd spent the day, what their behaviors were, where they went and specifically how he appeared physically, his demeanor."

Nelson claimed that Hall's statement would be vital to explaining the specifics of the events directly leading to the arrest and subsequent death of Floyd.

"This will include evidence that while they were in the car, Mr. Floyd consumed what were thought to be two Percoset [sic] [painkiller] pills," Nelson said during the defense's opening statement, according to ABC News.

"Mr. Floyd’s friends will explain that Mr. Floyd fell asleep in the car and that they couldn’t wake him up to get going, that they thought the police might be coming because now the store [employees] were coming out," said Nelson.