As the case of a white Minnesota police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd begins, it raises parallels to a similar case upcoming in Atlanta.
This week, the judge overseeing former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial reinstated a third-degree murder charge in the case. Chauvin, who is white, is accused of killing George Floyd, a Black man, last May. The move was a win for prosecutors seeking another pathway to conviction.
Less than three weeks later, former white Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in a South Atlanta Wendy’s drive-through. APD terminated Rolfe soon after. The case is now in the hands of Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis.
WABE legal analyst Page Pate told ‘All Things Considered’ host Jim Burress there are clear parallels between both killings.
“Will the judge allow evidence of this officer’s prior use of force? Can you get those prior complaints into evidence to show that this officer had a practice or was engaged in this type of behavior before,” Pate told Burress. “That may be an issue in the Atlanta case as well.”
