TRIAL OF 3 COPS IN FLOYD KILLING DELAYED BY COVID DIAGNOSIS — ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s rights was abruptly suspended after one of the defendants tested positive for COVID-19.
The judge says the court is in recess until Monday.
The officer who tested positive wasn’t named, but reporters in the courtroom said J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were present and Thomas Lane was not.
Lane’s attorney declined to say whether his client had COVID-19.
Federal prosecutors say the three officers deprived Floyd of his rights when they failed to give him medical aid as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the Black man’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed, facedown and gasping for air.
Chauvin was found guilty of murder in state court. He entered a guilty plea on the federal civil rights charges.