George Floyd: Judge orders single trial for all 4 Minneapolis ex-cops, says it 'will give jury complete picture'
A judge has declined to change the location of trial for the four former Minneapolis police officers who were charged in connection with the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. On Thursday, November 5, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill declared that all four of the officers will be tried in a single proceeding. The judge made the rule after defense attorneys had argued that pretrial publicity had made it very difficult for the men to get a fair trial.
They had also cited a hearing that had taken place on September 11 where the men and their attorneys had been confronted by angry protesters outside the courthouse. They said that it showed that holding the proceeding in the same area where Floyd died would be unsafe for the participants in the trial.
Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin had knelt on the neck of Floyd for a sickening eight minutes despite Floyd saying he was unable to breathe. Eventually, Floyd lost consciousness and died with none of the fellow officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng trying to move Chauvin off his neck.
As a result, Chauvin faces charges of unintentional second-degree murder and manslaughter. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting the murder.
Defense lawyers had argued that the men should each face separate trials as each of the officers involved tried to downplay their role and involvement in Floyd's arrest by pointing fingers at each other. However, Judge Cahill rejected that as well and said there were too many complications to conduct separate trials.
He also said that trying the officers together would "ensure that the jury understands... all of the evidence and the complete picture of Floyd's death."
An attorney representing Floyd's family Ben Crump and his co-counsel Antonio Romanucci shared in a statement, "We applaud Judge Cahill’s decision today to keep the trial of the officers involved in George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and to try all of the former officers together. Trying these officers together will give the jury a complete picture of what happened on the day that George was murdered."
The statement continued, "Each of these men played a role that ultimately led to his death whether it was a knee to the neck or denying any intervention as George and onlookers begged for his life. The judge's decision to keep the trial in Minneapolis is the right one. We never see Black defendants get a change of venue to increase the fairness of their trials, and the White officers involved in the death of George Floyd should rightly face a jury of their peers in the city where this tragedy took place."
We had earlier reported that Floyd died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck while restraining him. Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe but in vain. The inhumane incident was captured on video, which has since gone viral, sparking national outrage. According to the lawyer for the Floyd family, Benjamin Crump, "Beyond doubt, he would be alive today if not for the pressure applied to his neck by officer Derek Chauvin and the strain on his body by two other officers. The ambulance was his hearse."