Prosecutors in the murder case against the four former Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers charged with the death of George Floyd have requested a three-month delay in the trial.
Attorneys for the prosecution cited the coronavirus pandemic and the amount of time needed to get people vaccinated to lower health risks in their request to delay the trial, according to The Star Tribune.
The requested start date of June 7 would “appropriately [balance] the need to protect public health with the need to ensure that this case is resolved expeditiously,” according to the prosecution’s filed court motion.
The trial of the four ex-police officers is currently scheduled to begin March 8. The former officers, Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane are slated to be tried together. Chauvin is facing second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. The others are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, said he wouldn’t object to the delay, according to a report by the Huffington Post. A lawyer for Kueng, Thomas Plunkett, told the news outlet “the timing of their motion seems curious to me.”
“The pandemic has been around for a while,” he added.
Floyd was killed last May 25 after Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes after placing him under arrest for alleging using a counterfeit bill. The incident was captured on cellphone video and sparked months of protests and global civil unrest.
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