Officer who pressed knee into George Floyd’s neck to stand trial alone in March.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin — the man who can be seen on video pressing his knee into George Floyd’s neck for an excruciating 8 minutes and 46 seconds — will now stand trial alone, rather than going on trial with the three other former officers involved in the heinous act, Amy Forliti of the Associated Press has reported. 

In an order filed Tuesday, Jan. 12, Judge Peter Cahill said he would be separating the murder case into two different trials rather than one, as he had been previously planned, due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. Specifically, Cahill said he believed that with the current size of his courtroom, it would be impossible for individuals to stay socially distanced based on the number of lawyers and support personnel expected to be present for the trial.

According to Forliti, “Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Former officers Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.”