The police officers involved in the murder of George Floyd could see their trial to begin on 8 march. This is what hope a judge of the city of Minneapolis, which was, however, threatened to disorient if the parties continued to express themselves in the media on this issue, which has revolted America. “I would like that the publicity before trial does not involve any release of the families of the parties, their friends, or their elected officials,” said the judge Peter Cahill on Monday at a hearing is very much expected in this city in the north of the United States.
Dressed in a costume, orange prisoner, the face covered by a mask, the ex-officer Derek Chauvin appeared by video link from the high security prison where he is being held for a month. This white man of 44 years old is charged with murder for having asphyxiated George Floyd, an African-American, 46 years old, kneeling on her neck for long minutes.
His three former colleagues Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, prosecuted for complicity in the murder, were presented in person before the judge. The first two were released conditionally on payment of a deposit of $ 750 000. The last one is always arrested, but has been transferred to the tribunal for this hearing. The four men, all of whom were dismissed from the police, face up to forty years in prison. In a document submitted after the hearing, the lawyer of Alexander Kueng has indicated that his client intended to plead “not guilty” and argued that it had made a “reasonable use of force” to defend themselves. The strategies of the other accused have not yet been revealed.
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on 25 may, The four officers had wanted to arrest George Floyd, who was suspected of having attempted to pass a counterfeit $ 20 in a trade in Minneapolis. The forty-something woman, handcuffed, was tackled to the ground and officer Derek Chauvin had applied his knee on his neck to keep him there. “I can’t breathe “, has begged George Floyd several times before losing consciousness. Despite the interventions of passers-by, Derek Chauvin has continued to exert its pressure for nearly eight minutes, according to the indictment.
“This is a folder which has a high public interest”
Ing drama, in which the images captured by a bandwidth became viral, has sparked a wave of protests unseen since the great civil rights marches of the 1960s, which has even surpassed the u.s. borders. At the hearing, counsel for Derek Chauvin complained that many leaders, including the mayor of Minneapolis, or even the president Donald Trump, have commented on the case. “This is a folder which has a high public interest “, recognized Me Eric Nelson, “but if these declarations continue, I will ask the justice” of the ban, he threatened.
judge Peter Cahill, who had banned cameras in the courtroom, has also been desired that the matter be adjudicated in court and not in the media. If not, it will disorient the trial outside the county of Hennepin, he said. The magistrate has set march 8, 2021 the possible date of its carrying out. It may, however, be reviewed based on the progress of the procedure.
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The prosecutor Matthew Frank has insured to him as “a fair trial” and is committed to recommend to family, elected officials and the investigators in charge of the case, to refrain from comment on the record publicly in the future. But ” I can’t force them “, he recognized. At the same time, outside the palace of justice, an uncle of George Floyd wished that the trial should be held not in Minnesota. “I am not angry against anyone,” said the press Selwyn Jones, who came to the express of South Dakota for the hearing. But, for him, the trial will not be fair ” if it takes place in this State where the black population is very small. The next hearing has been set for 11 September.
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