MINNEAPOLIS — The four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd will be tried together in Hennepin County District Court, the judge on the case ruled Thursday.
Judge Peter Cahill said Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao will start trial March 8 in the downtown Minneapolis courthouse, but he left open the possibility of reconsidering that decision before evidence is heard in the case.
In a handful of rulings, Cahill also said he would allow cameras in the courtroom to livestream the trial and will sequester the jury for the trial that could take more than a month. The jurors will also remain anonymous for their safety.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Floyd's family, issued a statement praising Cahill's rulings.
"Trying these officers together will give the jury a complete picture of what happened on the day that George was murdered," Crump said. "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."
Kueng's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, issued a written statement saying he is reviewing Cahill's orders.
"My goal is to assure that a fair trial occurs for Mr. Kueng," Plunkett said. "We are happy to have the orders so we can start preparing for our trial and presenting the truth in front of a jury."
Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, declined to comment on the rulings aside from supporting cameras in the courtroom. All of the defense attorneys filed a joint motion in June requesting camera access at trial.
"I've tried numerous cases in Wisconsin — murder cases all kinds of cases with high publicity — and they have cameras in the courtroom, and it should have been in the Minnesota courtrooms years ago," Gray said. "It doesn't interfere with anybody's procedures in the courtroom. We never show the jury. They're never on TV. It's just the witnesses, the judge and the lawyer. I thought that's way overdue."
Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, declined to comment. Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, could not be reached for comment.
Cahill cited multiple factors supporting a joint trial, including the similarity of the evidence in all four cases and the burden on prosecutors of trying them separately. The main evidence will include videos from the former officers' body cameras, police training manuals, autopsy reports and eyewitness testimony, Cahill wrote.
The judge also said there's no indication at this point that the former officers will use "antagonistic" defenses. All contend they were authorized to use force because Floyd was resisting their demands that he take a seat in the squad, the judge wrote.
"In addition, all defendants contend that Floyd's death resulted from his underlying medical conditions, heart disease, and hypertension acting in combination with several drugs found in his system" after he died, Cahill wrote.
He said holding separate trials for the officers would be a burden on the eyewitnesses, especially those who are minors, the judge said. He cited the emotional toll, financial cost of traveling to testify and the danger of testifying during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
"The impact on eyewitnesses has greater import here where it appears at least two of the eyewitnesses watching the Defendants' restraint of Floyd and his death are minors, whom the law deems to be particularly 'vulnerable,' " the judge wrote in a 51-page memo detailing his decision.
Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is leading the prosecution with assistance from the county attorney's office, issued a statement describing Cahill's rulings as "a measured and thoughtful application of the law."
"I'm satisfied by the court's decisions today," Ellison said. "The murder of George Floyd occurred in Minneapolis, and it is right that the defendants should be tried in Minneapolis. It is also true that they acted in concert with each other and the evidence against them is similar, so it is right to try them in one trial.
Cahill on Thursday also reversed an earlier decision banning County Attorney Mike Freeman and three of his attorneys from working on the case.
Cahill previously issued the ban against Freeman, Deputy County Attorney Andrew LeFevour, Senior County Attorney Amy Sweasy and Assistant County Attorney Patrick Lofton citing "sloppy" work because they met with the medical examiner in the case without a non-attorney present.
Freeman, with backing from Ellison's office, defended his office's work and asked the judge to reconsider.
Cahill on Thursday vacated the ban, ruling that the Freeman and the three attorneys could participate in the prosecution but could not appear as advocates in the trial or sign any motions.
Floyd died in police custody on Memorial Day after police responded to a report of a counterfeit $20 bill at a south Minneapolis convenience store. Lane and Kueng arrived first at the scene, but Chauvin is the officer seen kneeling on Floyd's neck. Thao kept the agitated crowd from intervening.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The others are charged with aiding and abetting him. All four are free on bail.
In ruling against a change of venue, Cahill said law requires trials to be held in the county where the crime occurred except when certain conditions exist. In this matter, "no corner of the state of Minnesota has been shielded" from pretrial publicity regarding the death of George Floyd" and "a change of venue is unlikely to cure the taint of prejudicial pretrial publicity raised by lawyers for the defendant."
