MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has declined defense requests to move the trial of four Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death, and also ruled that all four would be tried in a single proceeding.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill ruled Thursday after defense attorneys argued that pretrial publicity had made it impossible for the four men to get a fair trial.
They had also cited a Sept. 11 hearing in which the men and their attorneys were confronted by angry protesters outside the courthouse.
Moving the trial away from Minneapolis to less diverse areas of the state likely would have affected the makeup of the jury.
The officers being charged are Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder of Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by him and the other Minneapolis police officers on May 25.
Kueng, Lane and Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin.
