Derrik Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify Thursday, ending weeks of speculation and bringing the defense's case to a close.

Chauvin told the judge he would not take the stand before the jury was brought into the courtroom.

Had he testified, it would have been the first time he publicly told his side of the story.

Chauvin is charged with second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, 46, who had been suspected of using a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes at a convenience store.

Closing arguments will begin Monday before the case is handed to the jury for deliberations.

The defense called several witnesses to the stand over the course of two days, including Dr. David Fowler, a pathologist who has testified in numerous high-profile police use-of-force cases. Fowler testified Wednesday that Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm disturbance as a result of his heart disease. Fowler said that the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd's system were contributing factors in his death. "You put all of those together, it's very difficult to say which of those is the most accurate," Fowler said.

Fowler, who was Maryland's chief medical examiner for 17 years, testified that he would classify the manner of death as "undetermined," rather than a homicide — an act caused by another person, as the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office ruled.

Fowler is among several people being sued in federal court by the family of Anton Black, a 19-year-old Black man who died in police custody in September 2018 in Maryland after three officers and a bystander held him down in the prone position for about six minutes. No one was charged. The lawsuit accuses two police officers of using excessive force and Fowler of "improperly concealing police wrongdoing," for ruling the death "accidental."

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