Judge bars ‘sloppy’ prosecutors from case of ex-cops charged in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS, (Reuters) - The judge in the criminal case against four former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death disqualified four local prosecutors yesterday because of “sloppy” work, while a special prosecutor said the defendants had “acted together” and should face trial together.
The hearing before Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill focused on various motions in the criminal case arising from Floyd’s death, which led to protests in the United States and other countries against racism and police brutality.
It was the first time all four defendants - Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - appeared together since the May 25 death of Floyd, who was Black. Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. He faces the most serious charge of second-degree murder.
While Cahill did not rule on any major motions, he dealt a blow to the prosecution by disqualifying Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and three other lawyers in his office from participating in the case because of a meeting they had with the medical examiner with no outside attorneys present. The medical examiner is the official who looked into the cause of death.
“It was sloppy not to have someone present. Those four attorneys are off the case,” Cahill said. “They are now witnesses.”
After the hearing, Floyd’s relatives and lawyers pushed back against the assertion made by defense attorneys in court filings that Floyd, who had the powerful opioid pain medication fentanyl in his system, died of an overdose rather than cardiopulmonary arrest, the official cause of death.