ON HOLD

Trial Postponed for 3 Other Cops Charged in George Floyd’s Death

The trio were scheduled to go to trial in late August but a judge decided it would be best to distance their trial from their colleague Derek Chauvin’s.

A judge has postponed the trial of the three former Minneapolis cops charged with aiding and abetting in George Floyd’s death. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were originally scheduled to go to trial in late August but Judge Peter Cahill decided it would be better to move it to March 2022 due to the publicity surrounding the recent trial of Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter. Chauvin’s trial was separated from the other three defendants for several reasons, including COVID protocols limiting the amount of people who could be in the courtroom. All four officers face separate federal charges for violating Floyd’s civil rights. Thursday’s pre-trial hearing also discussed a request that prosecutors be sanctioned following leaked reports in the press about then Attorney General Bill Barr rejecting a proposed plea deal for Chauvin. Cahill’s decision on that is pending.