Tamburino Talks Law: George Floyd case pre-trial decisions and Minnesota precedent

A Minnesota judge is about to make some key pre-trial decisions regarding the George Floyd case. One of those decision is if the defendants will have separate trials. Could clues to this decision come from another famous Minnesota case? The judge in the murder trial of Minneapolis Police Officer Jerry Hoff also had to determine if there would be separate trials.
We know conclusion that judge came to and also the general precedent in Minnesota courts. Listen to my fully analysis by clicking here Tamburino Talks Law or read my article below:

The prosecution in the George Floyd murder cases, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office (AG), has motioned the trial court to join all four defendants in one trial rather than allowing separate trials for each accused. The defendants have objected to that motion and have argued that a joint trial would not be fair to each of them. The judge has not yet ruled on the "joinder" motion, so this would be a good point to briefly explain the issues at hand to the public.

First, any examination of Minnesota’s case law and judicial practice would confirm that Minnesota has a well-established legal preference for separate trials. The law attempts to ensure that individual defendants receive fair trials, i.e., the jury decides the evidence against them individually and not be convicted just because they have a co-defendant(s).

Second, our judicial history proves that separate trials are favored over joint trials. A prime example would be the four separate jury trials for the four men charged with killing Officer Jerry Haaf on September 25, 1992. Officer Haaf was brutally gunned down while at the Pizza Shack restaurant by four men who were part of a street gang and conspired together to kill a police officer. They found Off. Haaf at the restaurant eating pizza and they decided to kill him. Yet, even though the four men conspired with each other, belonged to the same gang, and planned out a murder amongst themselves, they all had separate jury trials.

Lastly, the AG will have to convince the judge that the four defendants in the Floyd case would not be prejudiced by having a joint trial. This will be difficult to do considering the facts that all four may have divergent defenses, dissimilar police training histories, and divergent experiences with each other. But stay tuned, because the court’s decision will likely be issued soon.

Comments

Tamburino Talks Law: Gov. Walz Issues Statewide Mask Order

Click Here to Listen to Tamburino Talks Law: Governor Walz Issues Statewide Mask Order When the new rule goes into effect July 25th, Minnesota will be the latest of about 30 states who've introduced similar mask-wearing requirements. Gov. Walz makes it mandatory that anyone older than 2 years old wear a mask when they enter any building or structure that is open to the public. Such places would include gas stations, stores, coffee shops, public restrooms and schools. Public and private schools and places of higher-learning are expected to open in some form this fall, and anyone entering those places (students, faculty, staff, or visitors) would need to wear a mask as part of the order. The order would also apply to anyone in daycare and after-school centers, which means that a 4 year old child in preschool up to a twenty-something student in college would need to wear masks when they’re at school. While individuals can face a misdemeanor fine of up to $100 or a busine...

Tamburino Talks Law: Minnesota on New York State Travel Advisory List

Click Here to Listen to Tamburino Talks Law: Minnesota on New York State Travel Advisory List Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York recently added Minnesota to the list of approximately 22 states that are part of New York special travel advisories and quarantine rules. New York decided that any person traveling to New York from a state that has a positive Covid-19 testing rate in excess of 10%, or a number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents, based on a 7 day rolling average, must self quarantine for 14 days before they are allowed to travel freely within New York state. There are exceptions for essential workers (such as health care professionals), and for people who are simply traveling through New York and would only be in the state for less than 24 hours. The new rules also differentiate airline travel from non-airline travel. First, if you fly into any airport in New York...

Tamburino Talks Law: Wisconsin pharmacist charged in vaccine case

A Wisconsin pharmacist convinced the world was “crashing down” told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released Monday. Police north of Milwaukee, arrested Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg last week following an investigation into the 57 spoiled vials of the Modern vaccine, which officials say contained enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people. Charges are pending. A detective wrote in a probable cause statement that Brandenburg, 46, is an admitted conspiracy theorist and that he told investigators he intentionally tried to ruin the vaccine because it could hurt people by changing their DNA. Misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccines has surged online with false claims circulating on everything from the vaccines’ ingredients to its possible side effects. What are the full scope of charges Brandenburg could face related to tampering with CO...

Tamburino Talks Law

Search This Blog