On Monday, a US court postponed the start of the jury selection process in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, resulting in the African-American man’s death.
Chauvin is now charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The trial was set to begin on Monday. However, the court put it on hold while considering adding a third-degree murder charge.
The judge initially ruled that jury selection would begin as scheduled on Monday. He also said he did not have jurisdiction to decide whether to reinstate the additional charge. However, prosecutors said they would ask the Court of Appeals to intervene, which could put the case on hold. The judge then sent the potential jurors home for the day.
The killing prompted outrage across the US and the world. A video of the incident shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as another officer, Alexander Kueng, has his knees on Floyd’s upper legs while their colleague J. Thomas Lane gripped Floyd’s handcuffed arms. The incident took place on a Minneapolis street on May 25 last year.