Ellison wants joint trial for fired cops charged in George Floyd’s death

August 13, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Prosecutors are asking a judge to try four fired Minneapolis police officers jointly in George Floyd’s death.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday filed a memo arguing that evidence against the four is similar and that a single trial would spare witnesses and family members from the trauma of multiple trials.

Ellison also argues that holding one trial would allow the community and the nation to absorb the impact of the verdicts for the four officers at once.

Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died May 25 after Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes.

Three other officers are accused of aiding and abetting in Floyd’s death. All four officers were fired.