Derek Chauvin expected to plead guilty to federal civil rights charges
Former Minneapolis police officer expected to appear in court on Wednesday to change plea
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Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the May 2020 death of George Floyd, is expected to change his plea from not guilty to guilty in a federal case alleging that he violated the civil rights of Mr Floyd.
Chauvin is accused of using the “color of the law” to deny Mr Floyd his constitutional rights to be “free from the use of unreasonable force”. Chauvin is charged alongside three other former officers – Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao.
On 25 May 2020, Chauvin used his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck to pin him down for more than nine minutes. The other three officers didn’t try to stop him.
The federal charges say that “this offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of George Floyd”. The state of Minnesota has separate cases against the officers, the Star Tribune reported.
The four officers pleaded not guilty to the federal charges in September, but a Monday court filing in Minnesota District Court indicated that Chauvin will make a court appearance on Wednesday to enter a new plea.
In the state’s case against Chauvin, he was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
The Independent has reached out to Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, for comment.
On 5 November of this year, a judge entered not guilty pleas on tax evasion charges on behalf of Chauvin and his ex-wife.
Washington County District Judge Sheridan Hawley also set the next court date in the case for 21 January. A trial date has not been set.
Chauvin appeared via Zoom for the brief hearing from the state’s maximum-security prison at Oak Park Heights, where he’s serving his sentence for his conviction in April for second-degree murder.
Sitting in a prison conference room and wearing a white T-shirt, Chauvin said little except “yes, your honour,” to answer routine questions from the judge. Kellie Chauvin appeared from a different location.
The nine felony tax evasion counts filed in July of 2020 allege that Derek and Kellie Chauvin underreported their joint income by $464,433 from 2014 through 2019, including more than $95,000 for his off-duty security work. Kellie Chauvin was a real estate agent and also operated a photography business. At the time, prosecutors said they owed $37,868 to the state, including unpaid taxes, interest and fees. Prosecutors have said the tax investigation began before Floyd’s death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report