Minneapolis prosecutors are seeking to push back the start of the trial of the four officers charged in George Floyd’s death due to the pandemic.
According to the Daily Mail, the trial was originally scheduled to start on March 8th, for Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane who are scheduled to be tried together.
Prosecutors have cited the COVID-19 pandemic and a need for more time to allow enough people to be vaccinated and ensure health risks are sufficiently diminished.
In their motion, the prosecution argued that putting off the trial until June 7th “appropriately balances the need to protect public health with the need to ensure that this case is resolved expeditiously.”
Derek Chauvin, the main officer seen in the now infamous video, is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The other three are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
Lawyers for Chauvin said they do not intend to object to the prosecution’s motion to delay the trial. But Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, said the prosecution’s motion citing COVID-19 is puzzling.
“The timing of their motion seems curious to me,” Plunkett said. “The pandemic has been around for a while.”
