After one of the three other former police officers implicated in the death of George Floyd tested positive for COVID-19, the federal trial for them has been postponed.
Following the diagnosis, US District Judge Paul Magnuson declared on Wednesday, February 2 that the trial would be postponed until at least Monday.
The judge did not say which of the three former Minneapolis cops – Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane – had contracted the virus, although Mr. Lane was not present in court that day.
The other two defendants were in attendance when the verdict was announced. It’s also unclear whether the cop is experiencing any symptoms.
Mr. Kueng, Mr. Lane, and Mr. Thao are currently on trial on federal accusations of failing to give medical care to Mr. Floyd and failing to act to prevent Derek Chauvin’s use of force during his murder on Memorial Day 2020.
Prosecutor Samantha Trepel accused the policemen of doing nothing to stop former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, who was sentenced to more than 20 years in jail for Floyd’s murder last year.
During an arrest for a suspected $20 counterfeit bill, Officer Chauvin knelt on Mr. Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds as the Black man screamed for air, stating, “I can’t breathe.”
Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter at his state trial last April, and he is now imprisoned in Minnesota’s maximum security state prison.
He was set to stand trial alongside the trio on federal charges, but in December, he struck a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty in exchange for a transfer to a more comfortable federal prison.
In June, Mr. Thao, Mr. Kueng, and Mr. Lane will face state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.