Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has decided to change his plea in the charges against him for violating George Floyd's constitutional rights, and he has notified the federal court in Minnesota of his decision, according to a news release.
The charges brought against Chauvin say that he violated Floyd's right to be free of unreasonable force by a police officer while he knelt on Floyd's neck and held his right knee on Floyd's back and arm.
A change of plea hearing is set for Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota and the hearing being scheduled signals that Chauvin intends to change his plea to guilty.
If Chauvin pleads guilty to the charges, he will be able to serve as a witness in the case against the other three officers who are charged as being compliant in Floyd's death.
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Last June, when Chauvin was sentenced for killing Floyd, he spoke briefly, saying that he could not give a full statement to the family at that time, but he expressed his condolences to the Floyd family.
"There's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and I hope things would give you some peace of mind," Chauvin said in court.
Chauvin also chose not to take the stand in his own defense during his trial, and after he was found guilty, he was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison.
Chauvin is also facing charges for another federal indictment for a 2017 incident that saw the former officer use a neck restraint on a 14-year-old boy.
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