• About
  • Team
  • Contact
  • Editorial Standards
  • Core Values
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
Resist the Mainstream
No Result
View All Result
STORE
  • Politics
  • US
  • Media Watch
  • World
  • COVID
  • Story of Hope
  • Opinion
    • Cartoons
NEWSLETTER
Get Ad-Free Login Manage Account
  • Politics
  • US
  • Media Watch
  • World
  • COVID
  • Story of Hope
  • Opinion
    • Cartoons
No Result
View All Result
Resist the Mainstream
No Result
View All Result

Judge Makes Several Major Rulings in George Floyd Case

RTM Staff by RTM Staff
November 6, 2020
10

RELATED

Transgender Instagram Model Allegedly Murdered Dad, Stabbed Sister After ‘Argument Over a Laptop’: Prosecutors

Justice Department Responds to Jim Jordan’s Demands in Biden Docs Probe

A Hennepin County judge has made some major rulings in the case against four former Minneapolis police officers accused of killing George Floyd.

Judge Peter Cahill issued a 51-page ruling Thursday morning, saying the trial for Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane will be held jointly in Hennepin County. This ruling is preliminary, and future arguments could still change that. Stearns County was on the shortlist of potential trial venues if the judge decided to move it.

Advertisements

The reason the ruling is considered preliminary is mainly due to safety concerns. During a pretrial hearing on September 11th, attorneys and the former officers were verbally and physically harassed. Lane’s car was also damaged, and one protester also allegedly had a gun with them. Cahill said better safety planning is needed and not a change of venue.

He added to the ruling that “No corner of Minnesota has been shielded from pretrial publicity” and that public opinion surveys are underway as a better gauge to see if a fair trial in Hennepin County is still possible.

Cahill also said the trial would be televised. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing will be observed in the courtroom, leaving little space for family, friends, and the media to observe. Minnesota law does not allow for cameras to automatically be allowed into courtrooms. Attorneys must petition the court for audio and video recordings to be made public. The four former officers asked for cameras in the courtroom, and defense attorneys argued it would add to transparency, but prosecutors, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, argued against it. The prosecution said cameras could change how evidence is presented, intimidate witnesses, and would “create more problems than they will solve.”

There are strict rules in place for camera access. Jurors will not be shown, and any witness under 18 cannot be shown on video, but audio is allowed. Members of George Floyd’s family will also not be shown unless they consent to it. Zooming in on tables, attorneys or defendants is also not allowed, and microphones will not be permitted at counsel tables.

The four will be tried together, even after defense attorneys argued against that, saying the four may point fingers at each other. Thao, Kueng, and Lane are all charged with two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter. Chauvin is charged with second degree unintentional murder and second degree manslaughter. Cahill said there is no evidence the four would turn on each other and added four separate trials would also cause undue stress on Floyd’s family.

Advertisements

Ellison has not yet said if he will appeal any of the rulings but did issue a statement saying,

“I’m satisfied by the court’s decisions today. The murder of George Floyd occurred in Minneapolis, and it is right that the defendants should be tried in Minneapolis. It is also true that they acted in concert with each other, and the evidence against them is similar, so it is right to try them in one trial.

“These rulings reflect a measured and thoughtful application of the law. Taken with recent ruling sustaining almost all of the original charges against the defendants, including the most serious, the rulings today represent another significant step forward in the pursuit of justice for George Floyd and for our community.”

The trial is set to start on March 8th.

Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.

TRENDING TODAY

15-Year-Old Michigan Girl Vanishes, Cellphone Found at School in ‘Suspicious’ Episode
US

15-Year-Old Michigan Girl Vanishes, Cellphone Found at School in ‘Suspicious’ Episode

by RTM Staff
January 30, 2023
Megyn Kelly Has a Message for First Lady After Fox Calls Her Dr. Jill Biden: ‘Get a Real MD’
Politics

Megyn Kelly Has a Message for First Lady After Fox Calls Her Dr. Jill Biden: ‘Get a Real MD’

by Gary Ray
January 30, 2023


© 2023 Resist the Mainstream

Get Ad-Free Login Manage Account
No Result
View All Result
  • Newsletter
  • Store
  • Politics
  • US
  • Media Watch
  • World
  • COVID
  • Story of Hope
  • Opinion
    • Cartoons
  • About
  • Team
  • Contact
  • Editorial Standards
  • Core Values
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure

© 2023 Resist the Mainstream