Judge denies motion to admit George Floyd's 2019 arrest as evidence at trial

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Hennepin County District Court judge ruled this week that George Floyd’s 2019 arrest in Minneapolis and the accompanying body camera footage depicting supposedly similar, evasive behavior with police cannot be admitted as evidence at the upcoming trials of the four Minneapolis police officers charged in Floyd’s death. 

Judge Peter Cahill denied the defense’s motion to admit at trial evidence relating to Floyd’s 2019 arrest and his subsequent admission to the Hennepin County Medical Center as well as his 2007 conviction for aggravated robbery in Texas. 

Cahill also denied the state’s motions to admit at trial evidence relating to previous incidents involving former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng. 

However, the judge granted part of the state’s motion to admit evidence relating to an August 2015 incident and a June 2017 incident involving former officer Derek Chauvin. 

According to the court documents, in August 2015, Chauvin helped detain and transport a "suicidal, intoxicated and mentally disturbed" man to the hospital. Medical professionals later said if the officers had "prolonged their detention of the [man] or failed to transport [him] to the hospital in a timely manner, [he] could have died," the court documents say.  

The June 2017 incident involved Chauvin restraining a woman who was under arrest by placing his knee on her neck while she laid on the ground—similar to how he restrained Floyd. He continued to restrain the woman in that position "beyond the point when such force was needed under the circumstances," the motion reads. 

Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao. J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. The four former Minneapolis police officers are charged in the death of George Floyd. (FOX 9 / FOX 9)

Floyd died on May 25 in the custody of Minneapolis police officers. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s death. Thao, Kueng and Thomas Lane are charged with two counts each of aiding and abetting. 

Chauvin’s trial is scheduled for March 8, while the other three officers will be tried together in August.