Delay possible in state trial for 3 former officers charged in George Floyd’s death
By WCCO Staff
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The state trial for three former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s death looks like it will be delayed after a continuance motion was granted by the court.
According to Hennepin County Court documents, a joint request from all parties was filed on the grounds that continuance would “be in the interests of justice.”
The court granted the motion, with some caveats. By Saturday, all parties will need to agree on a new jury trial date. The new date must be communicated to the court by Sunday. If no agreement is made, the trial date will remain March 7.
Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Keung also face a federal trial of depriving Floyd of his civil rights. They are slated to stand trial for the federal charges later this month. The state trial could be also delayed on a “day-to-day basis” if the federal trial isn’t completed by March 7.
The court says it will accept any new state trial date from March 14 through Jan. 9, 2023.
Thao, Lane and Keung are charged with aiding and abetting Derek Chauvin, another former Minneapolis officer, in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd. Last April, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder for fatally kneeling on Floyd’s neck outside a south Minneapolis convenience store, even though Floyd repeatedly told the officer he couldn’t breathe. That trial was live-streamed.
Chauvin is currently serving a 22-and-a-half year sentence for murdering Floyd. He also pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in the case.
On Tuesday, the Hennepin County judge denied a motion from the three other former police officers to limit live-streaming of the trial.
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