Judge Peter Cahill on Tuesday issued a new ruling banning cameras in the courtroom for the upcoming trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with the 2020 death of George Floyd.
A media coalition, which included KSTP, as well as prosecutors had requested access to the cameras in the courtroom to cover the trial of former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.
Cahill’s decision to ban the cameras cites previous rulings on live streaming: “The Court recognized that it permitted more extensive audio and video coverage than is permitted” under existing statutes. “The Court did so not lightly, but out of necessity in light of the vicissitudes of the ongoing public health pandemic.”
Once COVID-19 restrictions began to ease in the state, in-person trials began to increase.
Now, as Judge Cahill noted in his ruling, the weeks set for the upcoming trial of the three former officers “are materially different from those the Court faced from November 2020 to April 2021 with the Chauvin trial.”
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was the first case in Minnesota to allow cameras in the courtroom.
Jury selection for the trial of Kueng, Lane and Thao is due to begin on June 14.
They are each charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder and aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter.
See the full decision below.
In February, a federal jury convicted the three former officers after they were charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd.
RELATED: Jury Convicts 3 Former Minneapolis Officers of Civil Rights Violations of George Floyd
The three were charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9½ minutes on May 25, 2020, as Floyd pleaded for air.
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