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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 6 November 2020
Judge rejects moving trial of ex-officers in Floyd's death

By STEVE KARNOWSKI kept confidential, and that cal evidence is the same
and AMY FORLITI jurors will be fully seques- for all men, and one trial
Associated Press tered during deliberations would keep witnesses from
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A and escorted to the court- having to testify multiple
judge on Thursday rejected house as a group. times. Floyd, a Black man
defense requests to move The judge also ruled that in handcuffs, died May 25
the trial of four former Min- the trial can be televised after Derek Chauvin, who
neapolis police officers and streamed live, saying is white, pressed his knee
charged in George Floyd's cameras will ensure the de- against Floyd's neck for sev-
death, and also ordered fendants' right to a public eral minutes even after he
that all four will be tried trial and the public's right said he couldn't breathe.
together instead of sepa- to access during this time Floyd's death sparked pro-
rately. Hennepin County when spacing restrictions tests in Minneapolis and
Judge Peter Cahill ruled af- due to COVID-19 leave beyond, and led to a na-
ter defense attorneys had little to no room for spec- tionwide reckoning on
argued that pretrial pub- tators. Defense attorneys race. All four officers were
licity had made it impos- also argued that the men fired. They are scheduled
sible for the four men to get should face separate trials, to stand trial in March.
a fair trial in Minneapolis. as each officer tried to di- Chauvin is charged with
They also cited a Sept. 11 minish his own role in Floyd's unintentional second-de-
hearing in which the men arrest by pointing fingers gree murder and second-
and their attorneys were at the others. But Cahill re- degree manslaughter. The
confronted by angry pro- This combination of file photos provided by the Hennepin jected that too, saying the three other former officers,
testers outside the court- County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on June 3, 2020, shows, top complications of separate Thomas Lane, J. Kueng
house, raising safety issues. row from left, Derek Chauvin, and J. Alexander Kueng, bottom trials were too great and and Tou Thao, are charged
Defense lawyers argued row from left, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. that trying the officers to- with aiding and abetting
that witnesses could be in- Associated Press gether would "ensure that both counts. Tom Plunkett,
timidated, and jurors could Minnesota has been shield- to revisit the issue if circum- the jury understands ... all Kueng's attorney, said in
be affected by chants from ed from pretrial public- stances warrant. Moving of the evidence and the a statement that he is re-
a crowd outside. ity regarding the death of the trial away from Minne- complete picture of Floyd's viewing Cahill's orders. "My
But Cahill said he was not George Floyd. Because of apolis to a less diverse area death. goal is to assure that a fair
convinced that moving the that pervasive media cov- also likely would affect the "And it would allow this trial occurs for Mr. Kueng.
trial would improve securi- erage, a change of venue makeup of the jury, though community, this State and We are happy to have the
ty, and that he believes the is unlikely to cure the taint the judge didn't address the nation to absorb the orders so we can start pre-
jury can be protected from of potential prejudicial pre- that issue. In a separate or- verdicts for the four defen- paring for our trial and pre-
outside influences. trial publicity," he wrote. der, however, he said the dants at once," he con- senting the truth in front of
"No corner of the State of Cahill said he was willing names of the jurors will be cluded. Cahill said the criti- a jury," he said. q

Voters in Jersey Shore town of Margate reject a boardwalk

A group calling itself the Glenn Klotz, one of the and the bulkheads — and
Margate Boardwalk Com- boardwalk committee's that's precisely what hap-
mittee proposed a 1.5-mile leaders, did not immedi- pened almost as soon as
boardwalk connecting ately respond to a mes- the work was finished in
Margate with Ventnor to sage seeking comment 2017, forcing some resi-
the north and Longport to Thursday. But he said last dents to slog through waist-
the south. The $24 million year the boardwalk plan high water while clutching
project would have cost had its roots at least in part children and beach gear.
the average taxpayer be- in a beach replenishment Engineering solutions have
tween $110 and $190 a and dune construction since corrected those con-
year in additional taxes, plan that many in Margate ditions.
according to the group. opposed. A boardwalk would help to
The median home price in Insisting its wooden bulk- "heal the damage" inflict-
Margate is nearly a half-mil- heads provided better ed by the beach work, the
lion dollars, but those near protection without block- committee said.
the beach go for consider- ing ocean views, Margate In addition to concern over
ably more. launched a series of court the cost, some opponents
This Jan. 16, 2020 file photo shows the end of the Ventnor, Some city officials, how- battles against the U.S. cited fears of crime, saying
N.J. boardwalk as seen from Margate, N.J., where a group of ever, fear the actual cost Army Corps of Engineers' an unbroken walkway from
residents want the city to build its own boardwalk. of the boardwalk could be project. It was part of a Atlantic City to their shore
Associated Press
twice the group's estimate. nearly unbroken wall of resort town would make it
By WAYNE PARRY along its beachfront. "That is just as I thought it sand envisioned by then- easier for criminals to com-
Associated Press In incomplete tallies re- would go," Mayor Michael Gov. Chris Christie to pro- mit crimes in Margate and
MARGATE, N.J. (AP) — Not leased by the Atlantic Becker said. "It doesn't sur- tect New Jersey's 127-mile quickly return home. Those
everyone at the Jersey County Clerk's office, a prise me. It was my position coastline after the devas- sentiments drew support,
Shore loves boardwalks. non-binding referendum all along that we couldn't tation wrought by Sandy in as well as scorn, from vari-
Voters in Margate, a well- on whether Margate afford it. They said it would 2012. ous parts of the community.
to-do seaside community should study the feasibil- cost $24 million, but per- The town and many of its Margate had a boardwalk
near Atlantic City, over- ity of building a boardwalk sonally I don't see how we residents warned that large in the early 1900s; it was de-
whelmingly rejected a pro- was rejected this week by a could have done it for less ponds of water would col- stroyed by a hurricane in
posal to build a boardwalk ratio of more than 2-to-1. than $40 million." lect between the dunes 1944.q