A former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for several minutes will be tried separately from three other former officers accused in his death, according to scheduling orders filed on Tuesday.
Derek Chauvin will stand trial alone in March due to the coronavirus pandemic while the other three former officers will be tried together in the summer, according to the orders filed in Hennepin county district court.
Floyd, a Black man, died on 25 May after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed face down on the street.
Police were investigating whether Floyd used a counterfeit bill at a nearby store. In a video widely seen on social media, Floyd could be heard pleading with officers for air, saying he couldn’t breathe.
Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis and across the US and renewed calls for an end to police brutality and racial inequities.
Judge Peter Cahill cited the limitations of physical space during the pandemic for his order to split the trials. It is “impossible to comply with Covid-19 physical restrictions” given how many lawyers and support personnel that four defendants say would be present, Cahill wrote.
Last week, prosecutors asked Cahill to postpone the 8 March trial to 7 June to reduce public health risks associated with Covid-19. In his order on Tuesday, the judge wrote that while the pandemic situation may be greatly improved by June, “the court is not so optimistic given news reports detailing problems with the vaccine rollout”.
Cahill cited a request from Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette after last week’s hearing to reconsider having all four defendants tried in March due to space concerns. Barnette wrote that the courtroom could handle up to three defendants at once.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Former officers Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Defense attorneys had argued last year that the officers should be tried separately, since each might seek to diminish their own role in Floyd’s arrest and death by pointing fingers at the other officers.
Prosecutors had argued against dividing the trial, saying the evidence against all four is similar, the officers acted together and the public and witnesses should be spared the trauma of multiple trials.
Thao, Kueng and Lane are scheduled to stand trial together beginning 23 August.