MINNEAPOLIS — Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will stand trial alone in March in connection with the death of George Floyd, leaving the three other former police officers involved in the death to be tried together later this summer.
The trial in Hennepin County District Court of Chauvin, who pinned his knee on Floyd's neck until he fell unconscious and later died on May 25, will proceed on March 8, Judge Peter Cahill ordered late Monday.
The other defendants, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, will remain tried together, but Cahill moved the start of that trial to Aug. 23.
The ruling comes in response to a motion late last month from the prosecution that the four defendants be tried three months later in June citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the time needed before enough people are vaccinated and health risks are sufficiently diminished.
Cahill explained in his order that the courtroom that was to be used to try all four defendants, the largest in the Hennepin County Government Center, was not spacious enough to accommodate everyone who needed to be present and still abide by "COVID-19 physical restrictions."
The judge said he pushed the joint trial for Lane, Kueng and Thao more than two months beyond what the June 7 date the prosecution suggested because of "problems with the vaccine rollout" are causing delays in it being administered to the public.
The ruling included an email to Cahill from Chief Hennepin District Judge Toddrick Barnette, who is in charge of logistics for trying the four former officers, explaining how the courtroom was "not an adequate venue when enforcing social distancing."
Barnette did conclude, he continued, that the courtroom "can be configured for a trial with social distancing and the additional people needed by the attorneys for up to three defendants."
Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the case, maintained in a statement that he believes all four defendants should be tried together to avoid retraumatizing witnesses and family members, along with the risk of separate trials prejudicing jury pools.
"It is also clear that COVID-19 will still be a serious threat to public health in 8 weeks' time. While we are confident that the Court has established protocols to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission during trial, we believe, and independent public health experts agree, that with the advent of the vaccine the threat will be significantly abated by mid-year for everyone participating in or with an interest in this case," Ellison said. "Nevertheless, we are fully prepared and look forward to presenting our case to a jury whenever the Court deems fit."
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, and the others are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in connection with forcible detainment of Floyd on the pavement at the intersection of S. Chicago Avenue and E. 38th Street.
Cahill's order also addressed allegations by Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, that prosecutors mishandled the sharing of evidence with the defense, including burying important information in the midst of irrelevant material, providing duplicates of the same item and turning over thousands of pages of unrelated documents.
In addressing Nelson's pursuit of a trial delay based on his accusation, Cahill found that prosecutors "did not engage in any intentional violations of discovery rules [and] has not acted in bad faith. ... It appears the state is providing discovery as quickly as possible" despite failing to abide by the court's requirement that the sharing of evidence must occur within 24 hours.
Floyd's restraint on the pavement under the knee of Chauvin was captured by a bystander on cellphone video. That image of a Black man being held down in that manner quickly spread across social media and led to protests around the world, including widespread civil unrest in the Twin Cities.
