Minneapolis Judge Peter Cahill denied on Friday a request by the defense team of former officer Derek Chauvin to delay the date and change the trial's location.
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The ruling comes after the city announced a 27 million settlement with George's Floyd family, which raised concerns about a biased trial. Hence, Chauvin's lawyers asked to push bach the date and move the trial to another city.
The judge presiding over the Derek Chauvin trial is letting the defense admit evidence from a prior George Floyd arrest -- but there’s a caveat.
— Zerlina on Peacock (@ZerlinaShow) March 19, 2021
“The judge wants to make sure that the defense doesn’t...paint George Floyd as being the person on trial,” says @BrandtMPR. pic.twitter.com/NmK4RlPxgo
Three other former officers will face trial in August as they are charged with aiding and abetting. Today's ruling has been branded as a major blow to Chauvin's defense.
Cahill said that "a delay would do nothing to stem the problem of pretrial publicity" and "there's no place in Minnesota that hasn't been touched by that publicity."
#FromTheSouth News Bits | This Tuesday the high-profile trial of the former police officer accused of killing George Floyd—an African-American man whose death sparked mass protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the US and worldwide—began with the jury selection. pic.twitter.com/xKjt4iAEnM
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 9, 2021