Trial for 2 former officers charged in George Floyd's murder rescheduled again
Trial of ex-Minneapolis cops rescheduled again
The trial for the two former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with George Floyd's murder has been rescheduled, again. The state trial of Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, who are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter in Floyd's May 2020 death, was rescheduled to Oct. 24, 2022, from Jan. 9, 2023.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The trial for the two former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with George Floyd's murder has been rescheduled, again.
The state trial of Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, who are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter in Floyd's May 2020 death, was rescheduled to Oct. 24 from Jan. 9, 2023.
Judge Peter Cahill made this decision after prosecutors made a request for a speedy trial on behalf of Floyd's family. The state argued the family wants closure to the legal process and doesn't want the trial delayed any further. Kueng's attorney, in response to prosecutors' request for a speedy trial, had filed a motion for a continuance, seeking to push the start of his trial back to after April 3, 2023, citing Kueng being unavailable from January-March 2023 "due a scheduling conflict of a personal nature."
This is not the first time their trail has been moved. Their trial was originally scheduled to start on June 13 after being postponed from March of this year. But earlier this month, Cahill pushed back the start of their trial to Jan. 9, 2023. This came after Thao and Kueng filed motions to delay the start of their state trial and get it moved out of Minneapolis. The motion to move the trial was denied in early June, but the court granted their request for a continuance, listing pre-trial publicity from Thomas Lane's plea deal in May and the federal civil rights trial in February.
Thao, Kueng and Lane were found guilty in February in federal court of violating Floyd's civil rights. They haven't yet been sentenced in federal court. And Lane pleaded guilty in state court to aiding and abetting manslaughter in Floyd's murder in early May. Lane's sentencing in state court has been scheduled for Sept. 21. A sentencing date for the federal case has not been set.
Derek Chauvin, their former colleague, was convicted of murder last year in Floyd's May 25, 2020, death and pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation. Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison in the state case but hasn't yet been sentenced in the federal case.