By Aaron Miller-
Murder accused, Derek Chauvin, Cannot Use George Floyd’s Arrest Record Ito form any part of its defence in former Minneapolis Police Officer’s murder trial.
Judge Peter Cahill, of Hennepin County, ruled that referencing Floyd’s interaction with law enforcement is inadmissible in the court of law. George Floyd is no saint by legal standards, but none of his past is allowed to feature in the high profile murder case set to take place this year.
Reference to Chauvin’s past was also blocked from being used in the murder case.
Prosecutors had planned to admit seven reports of Chauvin using a questionable use of force throughout his time in the force, including restraints on the head and neck, four of which they felt could be regarded as extreme, as
However, in the same ruling Cahill decided that just one of those reports could be admissible – when he knelt on the neck of a woman who was already on the ground in 2017 – in a very similar tactic to when he killed Floyd in May last year.
Prosecutors claim medical professionals warned officers, including Chauvin, about the dangers associated with certain restraints, however Cahill ruled that it is only admissible if they can prove that Chauvin heard the warning.
Chauvin would be tried separately in March, while the other three former Minneapolis police officers who have been charged in connection with Floyd’s death will be tried together in the summer, according to documents filed in Hennepin County District Court.
Chauvin is charged with the second-degree murder of Floyd, in addition to second-degree manslaughter. Tou Thao, J, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, the three other officers present during the incident, have all been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd died after Chauvin used his knee to kneel on his neck, with eyewitnesses saying Floyd repeatedly shouted to alert officers that he couldn’t breathe in the eight minutes the officer applied force to his neck.
His untimely death, which was captured on camera by a passerby, sparked international outrage at the disproportionate violence experienced by the Black community at the hands of law enforcement in the United States. The protests served as a catalyst for the reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Chauvin and Floyd once worked together at night club in Texas, where the pair are said to have bumped heads, and not got along well.
Floyd was arrested after cops were called over counterfeit money he used to buy a packet of cigarettes in a store in Texas. Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes , ignoring cries from Floyd that he couldn’t breath. A recording of the incident also revealed that the late American pleaded with officers not to shoot him before he was dragged out of his car, and told officers that he had recently lost his mother.
The killing led to world wide protests at the height of the pandemic, in stark violation of social distancing rules.