Floyd cop to get own trial due to COVID
Three other officers in slay case will face court together
Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will now face a jury by himself after a judge decided his trial for the May 25 murder of George Floyd will be separated from the other since-fired officers in the case.
Chauvin’s solo trial for second-degree murder is now set to begin March 8.
Video shows him kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as the unarmed Black man yelled “I can’t breathe” more than 20 times and called out for his deceased mother almost a dozen times, prosecutors have said.
The other former officers charged in the case, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, will be tried together in a separate proceeding set to begin Aug. 23, the judge said.
Each is charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill issued the new trial order Monday, saying the court learned only last week that all four defendants planned to have at least two lawyers each, sitting with them during trial.
He said the physical limitations of the county’s largest courtroom simply couldn’t accommodate that many people and still abide by pandemic protocols meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“COVID-19 continues to be a public health emergency. Physical spacing limitations and mask requirements continue. While the state believes the situation will be greatly improved by June due to vaccinations, the court is not so optimistic given news reports detailing problems with the vaccine rollout,” Judge Cahill wrote.
He said the identities of jurors in both trials will not be public until further order by the court.
Jury selection for Chauvin’s trial is set to run from March 8 through March 29.
Chauvin’s motion to delay his trial due to claims that prosecutors were intentionally withholding evidence was denied.
Floyd’s caught-on-video death touched off coast-tocoast protests and a national reckoning with systemic racism.
Prosecutors say concerned bystanders frantically warned the cops 10 times that Floyd was no longer moving, warned them nine times that Floyd was unresponsive, and pleaded with them nearly 30 times to check Floyd’s pulse.
“Even as the bystanders pleaded with Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck, Chauvin rolled his knee back and forth, pressing it into Floyd’s neck and maintaining pressure on Floyd’s breathing,” a court filing in the case alleged.
Floyd was taken into custody following a report he allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.
He was unarmed and repeatedly apologized to the officers during his arrest, informing them that he was having difficulties and was fearful because he had been shot before, prosecutors said.