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MINNEAPOLIS – It was three days after George Floyd died in police custody last May, and businesses in the Twin Cities were on fire. Police officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas to restrain protesters, their anger fueled by a cellphone video of Mr. Floyd, a black man, panting under the knee of a white officer.
As the soldiers prepared to take to the streets, the officer, Derek Chauvin, believed the prosecution against him was so devastating that he agreed to plead guilty to third degree murder. As part of the deal, officials now say he was prepared to go to jail for more than 10 years. Local officials, struggling to end the growing anger in the community, have scheduled a press conference to announce the deal.
But at the last minute, according to new details presented by three law enforcement officials, the deal fell apart after then-attorney general William P. Barr rejected the deal. The deal was conditional on federal government approval because Mr. Chauvin, who had asked to serve his sentence in a federal prison, wanted reassurance that he would not face federal civil rights charges. .
One official said Barr was concerned that a plea deal, so early in the process and before a full investigation is concluded, might be seen as too lenient by the growing number of protesters across America. At the same time, Mr Barr wanted to allow state officials, who were set to take over the case from the county attorney who had strained relations with Minneapolis’ black community, to make their own decisions on how to proceed.
Now, in the run-up to Mr. Chauvin’s trial, which is slated to begin with jury selection on March 8, there is great uncertainty as to the outcome of the case and whether the proceedings could cause more violence.
Some office workers in downtown Minneapolis have already been told not to come to work during the week-long trial due to security. The National Guard will be deployed, turning the city center into a military zone, with Humvees and armed soldiers guarding the checkpoints. In his recent budget proposal, Gov. Tim Walz included a special post of $ 4.2 million for security during trial, as well as a fund of $ 35 million to reimburse local police departments who may be called to suppress disturbances.
“This is the most famous police brutality prosecution in US history,” said Paul Butler, a former prosecutor who is a professor at Georgetown University and an authority on police brutality.
In a country whose criminal justice system rarely holds police officers accountable for workplace murders – neither in Ferguson, Missouri, nor in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, nor in the case of Eric Garner in New York – the Mr. Chauvin’s trial is seen as a test to find out if anything has changed. Mr. Chauvin, in a widely viewed cellphone video captured by a spectator, kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes until he took his last breath pushed against, according to the terms of a court record, “the ruthless concrete of Chicago Avenue.” “
The trial may still be delayed. The prosecution has asked an appeals court to postpone the proceedings, citing the risk that the trial, with so many protesters likely to fill the streets, will become a widespread event during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This appeal concerns a matter of exceptional importance and unique to one of the most high-profile cases in our country’s history,” read the first sentence of the appeal brief filed by Keith Ellison, the prosecutor. General of Minnesota, who is leading the pursuit.
The state is also appealing Judge Peter A. Cahill’s decision to separate the trial of Mr. Chauvin, charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter – the original charge of third degree murder has been dropped – from the trial of three other former officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s death, two of whom were recruits with only a few days of work.
The three ex-officers who were with Mr. Chauvin during Mr. Floyd’s last minutes – Thomas Lane, who was holding Mr. Floyd’s legs; J. Alexander Kueng, who was placed on Mr. Floyd’s back; and Tou Thao, who repelled angry onlookers – are set to stand trial for aiding and abetting in August.
Legal experts and lawyers involved in the case say Judge Cahill’s decision to hold separate trials could benefit Mr Chauvin – whose lawyer had requested a separate trial – as he will no longer have to face the possibility that the other three men would point the blame on him.
In fact, it has already happened behind the scenes: The defense attorneys for these former officers have moved from fabrication strategies based on establishing Mr. Chauvin’s guilt to offering their assistance in his defense. If Mr Chauvin were acquitted – a possibility many officials fear would lead to further upheaval and questioning over the failure of the plea deal – the other three men would likely not stand trial at all.
Mr. Floyd’s death forced an account with the racial injustice and police brutality that many felt were long overdue. Not since the civil rights movement of the 1960s have so many Americans taken to the streets to demand justice and equality. The fact that this happened in the midst of a pandemic only added to the sense of magnitude.
Mr Floyd died on Memorial Day after a store clerk called the police about him for allegedly using a fake $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes. Soon, the impact of his death on the world at large will be reduced – to a specially constructed Courtroom, No. 1856, designed for social distancing at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
At trial, the central issue will most likely be the exact cause of Mr. Floyd’s death. The county medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a combination of the officers’ use of force, the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Mr Floyd’s system and his underlying health issues . But Mr. Chauvin’s defense strategy, which has emerged in numerous court records from his attorney, Eric Nelson, centers on presenting medical evidence that Mr. Floyd died of a drug overdose.
“Much of the defense strategy will look like a trial of the character of George Floyd,” said Mr. Butler, the Georgetown professor.
In a series of motions filed this week, Mr Nelson asked the court to allow Mr Floyd’s drug use testimony and to prohibit anyone at the trial from referring to Mr Floyd as a victim.
Mr Nelson declined to comment on the failed plea deal last year.
Lawyers and legal experts often refer to two of America’s most famous trials involving race and police when asked to put the criminal cases arising out of Mr. Floyd’s death into historical context. One is the Rodney King case in Los Angeles in 1992, for its obvious parallels of white agents brutalizing a black man. The other is the OJ Simpson trial, which offers an example of how an emotional trial can turn into a TV show.
Justice Cahill, citing the immense interest in the Chauvin case and the pandemic restrictions that will limit public participation, ruled that cameras would be allowed in the courtroom, a first in Minnesota.
Mr Ellison objected to court cameras, writing in a motion that “an innocent bystander who has seen the murder of George Floyd does not deserve – without his consent – to be put on the public stage.”
There are also lingering fears that the lawsuit could attract white supremacists or other right-wing extremist groups to the city. Already, during the preliminary hearings, the lawyers of the defendants were harassed; a man was arrested after he managed to get a gun inside the courthouse.
Earl Gray, Mr Lane’s attorney, was in his office a recent morning explaining that Mr Floyd’s drug use will likely be the focus of the case, when his phone rang. It was another in a stream of harassing phone calls that he has been receiving for months.
“This is a case where the politics are pretty tough,” he said in a neutral tone after hanging up.
The jurors will remain anonymous during the trial, and possibly sequestered. A questionnaire was mailed to the prospective jurors, asking them a number of questions, including their opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement and the effort to “dissolve the police,” a rallying cry for social unrest in the country. last summer, and whether they participated in any protests.
The appointment of an impartial jury could be the thorniest challenge of the whole procedure, and three weeks have been foreseen only for the selection of a jury. After all, many are wondering here, who has not heard of the case and formed an opinion on it? And how will the turmoil of last summer, and the hope that an acquittal in this case would lead to more protests in their own city, weigh on the minds of the jury?
Aside from snow on the ground and a bare Christmas tree, the only indication that almost a year has passed since Mr. Floyd was killed outside Cup Foods in South Minneapolis is a sign at the Speedway gas station. across the street which changes every morning.
“GEORGE FLOYD’S 28-DAY TRIAL,” reads recently.
Eliza Wesley, known to the Cup Foods community as “the guardian” of George Floyd Square – anchored by a traffic roundabout turned into a memorial, with a raised fist sculpture jutting out to the sky – has for many years. months taken care of the area and welcomed visitors.
The sign of the countdown, she said, “is that we know exactly how many days before trial we can be prepared. We want it to be peaceful. We don’t want white supremacists to come here.
Ms Wesley said she had no doubts about the outcome of the trial, although she feared her town could be shaken by the unrest again.
“I am convinced that justice will be served,” she said. “There is no way around this video. God allowed this to happen so life can be changed and people can see what is happening. George Floyd died for a goal.
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