George Floyd’s murder trial remains for …

The start of the trial against former policeman Derek Chauvin, accused of brutally murdering African-American George Floyd, has been postponed until Tuesday so that the presiding magistrate can analyze whether to add an additional charge against the accused. The process was to begin on Monday with the selection of the jury, but Magistrate Peter Cahill said he had no jurisdiction to rule on the third degree murder charge vs. Chauvin, although he noted that the prosecution’s claims that it would affect the whole case were not very consistent. Floyd’s crime sparked a massive wave of protests in the United States under the “Black Lives Matters” banner, and placed police violence and structural racism at the center of political debate amid the presidential campaign.

The trial could be longBut there is no doubt that the verdict will be eagerly awaited and could spark further protests from both sides. Only a unanimous decision of the 12 members of the jury can put Chauvin behind bars. The three other police officers involved in Floyd’s arrest are Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, and although they were all forcibly removed, face lesser charges and be tried separately.

Legal experts say that if Chauvin is also charged with third degree murder, he is more likely to be found guilty and sentenced.. “The potential jurors are here, but let’s face it, it won’t start until tomorrow,” Judge Peter Cahill said. “So, unless one of the parties object, I will release the jurors and start all Tuesday with the selection,” he added.

Chauvin, 44, is charged with second degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death., 46, on May 25 in the northern city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The African American suffocated to death after Chauvin immobilized him by hugging his knee in the neck for nearly nine minutes, an event which was caught on video and sparked a wave of protests against racism and police brutality in the United States and around the world.

The mobilisations have grown increasingly to become the main theme of the presidential campaign in the United States, largely due to the racist and repressive reaction they provoked, notably through the president of the United States. era and candidate for re-election, Donald Trump. The polarization has even forced opposition candidate and current president Joe Biden to make concrete promises of police reform., end with the suppression of the vote and other examples of what he recognized as “structural racism”.

The court process was slated to begin Sunday in Minneapolis with a protest in which thousands marched behind a white coffin covered in red roses to demand justice. The very diverse crowd remained mostly silent, only parting ways to shout “If there is no justice, there is no peace!”, While a banner reproduced the last words of Floyd: “I can’t breathe”.

On Monday, hundreds of people continued to demonstrate near the Minneapolis courthouse with flowers in memory of Floyd. “There is a problem in America,” said Marcus X. Smith, co-founder of a small organization dubbed the Black Party of the United States. “The problem is the system we are fighting against,” he added.

Floyd’s death trial is shaping up to be extraordinary in many ways: it will feature top lawyers, take place under high security, and be televised live. The Minnesota state attorney general’s office summoned Neal Katyal, a senior lawyer who has defended the government in the Supreme Court.

Katyal has previously described the trial as “a historic criminal case, one of the largest in US history”. Ashley Heiberger, a former officer who now works as a police practice advisor, said that “the fact that a police officer has been criminally charged with the abuse of force is in itself an outlier.”

“It is even rarer that they are convicted.” “Juries tend to want to give the police the benefit of the doubt,” Heiberger said. However, the circumstances surrounding Chauvin’s case are so worrying that “no police or police organization has come to defend his action,” he said.

It will take a unanimous decision of the 12 jurors to find Chauvin guilty. To prevent a possible new wave of protests against racism, the authorities have already mobilized thousands of police and members of the national guard. The Hennepin County courthouse, where the trial is taking place, looks like an armed camp surrounded by concrete barriers and barbed wire.