The presiding judge in the criminal case before Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was kneeling on camera around George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes – eventually killing him – changed the terms of the bail recently released by Chauvin so that the accused could leave Minnesota and live in another state.
Judge Peter Cahill issued the updated court order the day after Chauvin’s release from prison on Wednesday, October 7, with a $ 1 million bail. Nearly 50 people were arrested on Wednesday during protests in Minneapolis in response to Chauvin’s release.
Although his bail conditions required Chauvin to remain in Minnesota, Cahill decided to change this restriction based on “evidence to support the emerging security conditions.”
From the Washington Post:
The injunction says Chauvin must “reside somewhere in Minnesota or a contiguous state” – Iowa, the Dakotas, or Wisconsin – and provide the address to the court, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies. The order that will share information on a “need to know basis” only. The court record will show that “the defendant does not have a permanent address,” Cahill said.
Chauvin, 44, was transferred from a state jail to Hennepin County jail on Wednesday since his arrest in late May to the Hennepin County Jail when he issued a $ 1 million conditional bond. The bond’s terms prevented him from leaving the state, a reasonably specific country in a murder case. Chauvin was the only of the four former Minneapolis cops accused of Floyd’s death to be released from prison on bail.
Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in Floyd’s gruesome death. His attorney and those representing the other three Minneapolis police officers who were seen on surveillance video as Floyd screamed for his mother with Chauvin’s knee on his neck have asked the trial for the case be moved out of the county of Hennepin, Minnesota, voicing his concerns on the jury’s safety and impartiality because of the protests against the officers who have continued in town.
Ben Crump, the lawyer representing the Floyd family, disputed the claims’ veracity and criticized Judge Cahill’s order on Friday, allowing Chauvin to leave the city.
“The fact that Derek Chauvin is being given special treatment out of concern for his safety demonstrates how stark the contrast is between the two justice systems in America,” said Crump. “The police were not concerned about George Floyd’s safety even as he was handcuffed, face down on the ground with his breath and life being slowly extinguished. Yet, the man charged with killing him will roam free across state lines.”
Yet, this is not the first suggestion that Chauvin will receive special treatment in the justice system. In June, black correction workers at a Minneapolis prison where he was held filed a lawsuit alleging that their supervisors had banned them from dealing with Chauvin to replace them with their white co-workers.
The scheduled date for the trial of Chauvin and his fellow former Minneapolis cops, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane, and Tou Thao, is scheduled for release in March 2021.
