Civil trial in Floyd case on pace for January jury selection

This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows from left, Minneapolis Police Officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Chauvin. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal civil rights trial for the four former Minneapolis police officers indicted in the killing of George Floyd is on track to begin in January.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson earlier this month mailed out jury questionnaires ordering prospective jurors in the case to report to the courthouse on Jan. 20. The summons packet obtained by the Star Tribune shows that trial for Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane will run through mid-February.

Attorneys for Kueng, Thao and Lane have argued that Chauvin should be tried separately because he has already been found guilty in a state case. They may ask Magnuson to overrule a magistrate judge who said the four should be tried together.