Minnesota Lawyer

The Minneapolis police chief testified Monday that now-fired officer Derek Chauvin violated departmental policy in pinning his knee on George Floyd’s neck and keeping him down after Floyd had stopped resisting and was in distress.

In a decision with implications for the Derek Chauvin trial, the state Supreme Court has ruled that pattern jury instructions, long used by judges in third-degree depraved-mind murder cases, have been used in error.

Kneeling on the neck of someone who is handcuffed and in the prone position is “top-tier, deadly” force and should not be used, the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide division testified Friday at Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.

The “spark of life” doctrine, which is rare outside Minnesota, is controversial among defense attorneys and could complicate the trial.

Last week’s unanimous State v. Khalil opinion, written by state Supreme Court Justice Paul Thissen, name checks Rep. Kelly Moller’s House File 707 and lifts a passage directly from it.

Offenders could get out after serving half their time under the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act.

The officers’ video was part of a mountain of footage and witness testimony Wednesday in Derek Chauvin’s trial on murder and manslaughter charges in George Floyd’s death.

A Minneapolis firefighter who voiced frustration at being prevented from using her EMT training to help George Floyd will be back on the stand Wednesday in the trial of Derek Chauvin.

An epileptic predatory offender who sought to undo his conditional release revocation and prevent the Department of Corrections from using his epilepsy as a basis for future revocations has lost his case.

The video of George Floyd gasping for breath was front and center Monday as the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee on the Black man’s neck went on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter.