Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin speaks in court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin’s sentencing at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis earlier this year. Chauvin appears to be about to plead guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
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Court TV / AP
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin speaks in court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin’s sentencing at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis earlier this year. Chauvin appears to be about to plead guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Court TV / AP
MINNEAPOLIS – Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin appears to be about to plead guilty to civil rights violations by George Floyd, according to a notice sent Monday by the court’s electronic filing system.
Federal records show a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for Chauvin to change his current not guilty plea in the case. These types of notices indicate that the defendant is intending to plead guilty. The court system also sent instructions to the media attending the hearing.
Chauvin was found guilty of state murder and manslaughter for resting his knee on Floyd’s neck when the Black man said he couldn’t breathe during his May 25, 2020 arrest. sentence 22 and a half years in that case.
He and three other former officers – Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – will go on trial at the end of January on federal charges that they knowingly violated Floyd’s rights.
A message left for Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, was not immediately returned. The United States Attorney’s Office was unavailable for comment.
The information sent out on Monday gave no indication that the other officers intended to plead guilty. Messages left for attorneys for Kueng and Thao were not immediately returned. Earl Grey, Lane’s attorney, is currently on trial for an unrelated case related to the police shooting death of Daunte Wright.
According to evidence in the state lawsuit against Chauvin, Kueng and Lane helped restrain 46-year-old Floyd while he was on the ground – Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back and Lane held Floyd’s feet. Thao prevented the people around and did not allow them to interfere during 9 1/2 minutes of restraint.
Floyd’s arrest and death, which was captured on cellphone video by a bystander, sparked massive nationwide protests calling for an end to racial inequality and police mistreatment. close to Blacks.
All four officers have been widely accused in federal court of disenfranchising Floyd from acting under government authority, but the federal indictment breaks down the charges even further. A charge against Chauvin alleges he violated Floyd’s right not to be unreasonably detained and from unreasonably coerced by a police officer.
Thao and Kueng are accused of violating Floyd’s right to not be unreasonably occupied by not intervening to stop Chauvin when he knelt on Floyd’s neck. All four officers were charged with failing to provide medical care to Floyd.
Specifically, the indictment said Chauvin held his left knee to Floyd’s neck even though he was handcuffed and did not resist. The indictment alleges Thao and Kueng knew Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, even after Floyd failed to react, and “willfully failed to intervene to prevent Defendant Chauvin’s unreasonable use of force.” All four are charged with knowingly depriving Floyd of his liberty without due process, including the right not to be “intentionally indifferent to his serious medical needs.”
It remains unclear whether Chauvin plans to plead guilty to all or some of the federal charges against him in connection with Floyd’s death.
Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment, stemming from using force and strangling a teenager in 2017.
That indictment alleges Chauvin deprived a then-black 14-year-old boy of his freedom to use unreasonable force when he held his throat, struck him on the head with a flashlight, and pinned him on top. the boy’s neck and upper back while he lay on his stomach, shackled and unresponsive. Information from the court gave no indication that Chauvin would change his plea in that case.
Three other officers were also charged before state court with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. They are expected to appear in court in the state case in March.
