The federal civil rights investigation into Derek Chauvin (pictured) has convened a new grand jury, according to new reports

The federal civil rights investigation into Derek Chauvin (pictured) has convened a new grand jury, according to new reports

The federal civil rights investigation into Derek Chauvin (pictured) has convened a new grand jury, according to new reports

The Department of Justice has convened a new grand jury and called on witnesses to testify in its civil rights investigation of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, according to new reports.

The federal case received a new push since the start of the year, ahead of Chauvin’s March 8 trial on a state murder charge in the death of George Floyd, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.

The DoJ investigation into Chauvin involves a 2017 incident that has been deemed inadmissible by the judge in his upcoming state trial.

The incident involves the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, where video also showed Chauvin jamming his knee into his back, while ignoring the teen’s pleas that he could not breathe.

Chauvin, 44, and another officer had been responding to a call from a woman who said her son and daughter assaulted her.

Officers found her son lying on the ground and when he refused to comply with an order to get up, Chauvin struck him with a flashlight and grabbed him by the throat.

The boy lost consciousness as Chauvin had him in a neck restraint.

State prosecutors believed the episode was strikingly similar to Floyd’s death.

They argued that it showed ‘when faced with a suspect who does not immediately comply with his demands, Chauvin intentionally uses a level of unreasonable force to accomplish subdual and restraint’.

Yet Chauvin’s legal team argued that it was in keeping with the department’s then-policy on dealing with uncooperative suspects and it was ruled inadmissible as evidence. 

The federal investigation has resumed just ahead of Chauvin's state trial on March 8. The former Minneapolis cop faces murder charges over the death of George Floyd, pictured

The federal investigation has resumed just ahead of Chauvin's state trial on March 8. The former Minneapolis cop faces murder charges over the death of George Floyd, pictured

The federal investigation has resumed just ahead of Chauvin’s state trial on March 8. The former Minneapolis cop faces murder charges over the death of George Floyd, pictured

Chauvin and four other officers will stand trial over the death of George Floyd, pictured

Chauvin and four other officers will stand trial over the death of George Floyd, pictured

Chauvin and four other officers will stand trial over the death of George Floyd, pictured

Chauvin, who is white, was seen on widely viewed videos kneeling for nearly nine minutes on the neck of Floyd, 46, who was black and could be heard begging for his life last Memorial Day.

The investigation announced last May by the Justice Department into whether Chauvin violated Floyd’s civil rights had languished, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing two unnamed people with knowledge of the investigation.

It has been revived since the inauguration of President Joe Biden in January, with a new grand jury empaneled in Minnestota and new witnesses subpoenaed to give testimony, the newspaper reported. 

Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the Justice Department and Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for Floyd’s family, have not commented on the new reports.

Biden is not personally involved in the federal investigation in keeping with his pledge to let the Justice Department operate independently, a White House official said.

The Justice Department had promised a robust investigation when it was first announced last May.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald had said that it would investigate whether Chauvin and the three other police officers implicated in Floyd’s death deprived the black man of his constitutional rights by using their authority as law enforcement officers.

According to the Star Tribune, in order for it to meet a federal civil rights violation, it must be proven that the officers acted – or failed to act – with knowledge of wrongdoing.

Ex-officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane are also awaiting trial for the murder of George Floyd. Their trial will not take place until late August

Ex-officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane are also awaiting trial for the murder of George Floyd. Their trial will not take place until late August

Ex-officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Kiernan Lane are also awaiting trial for the murder of George Floyd. Their trial will not take place until late August

Cell phone video footage shows George Floyd on the ground shows him on the floor as Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck. Lane allegedly held Floyd's legs while Kueng was positioned on his back and Thao held off angry bystanders who witnessed Floyd's death, prosecutors said

Cell phone video footage shows George Floyd on the ground shows him on the floor as Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck. Lane allegedly held Floyd's legs while Kueng was positioned on his back and Thao held off angry bystanders who witnessed Floyd's death, prosecutors said

Cell phone video footage shows George Floyd on the ground shows him on the floor as Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck. Lane allegedly held Floyd’s legs while Kueng was positioned on his back and Thao held off angry bystanders who witnessed Floyd’s death, prosecutors said

The federal investigation is running parallel to the state case meaning that it can continue regardless of any verdicts in the criminal trials.

It is unlikely it is hoping for a quick indictment ahead of the state trial, the Times reports, but in the case of an acquittal or a mistrial, attention would shift to the federal investigation. 

Chauvin’s state trial is scheduled to begin in Minneapolis next month, and the city is bracing for a return of street protests as a verdict, expected in April, draws near.

The 44-year-old former cop, who is out on bail, has pleaded not guilty to murder in the second degree and second-degree manslaughter brought by state prosecutors.

The federal civil rights investigation into Chauvin (pictured last year) is running parallel to the state criminal case

The federal civil rights investigation into Chauvin (pictured last year) is running parallel to the state criminal case

The federal civil rights investigation into Chauvin (pictured last year) is running parallel to the state criminal case

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed to consider a request from prosecutors to reinstate a third-degree murder charge against the former police officer.

Jury selection begins March 8 for Chauvin. The appeals court set oral arguments for March 1 on adding the charge.

Three other officers – Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter and are scheduled to face trial in August.

During the encounter with Floyd, Lane allegedly held Floyd’s legs while Kueng was positioned on his back and Thao held off angry bystanders who witnessed Floyd’s death, prosecutors said.

They were also fired from the police department.

Last week, lawyers for Lane, Kueng and Thao filed motions to dismiss their cases, claiming that leaked plea-deal negotiations with Derek Chauvin will ‘taint’ the jury pool.

It came after The New York Times revealed earlier this month that Chauvin had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder just days after Floyd’s death.

Under the terms of the deal, Chauvin would have faced more than 10 years in prison to avoid conviction on federal civil rights charges, the Times reported.

But the deal fell apart when former U.S. Attorney General William Barr rejected it, saying it deal was too lenient, three anonymous law enforcement sources told the Times.

Now, the three former cops’ lawyers argue that Minnesota’s attorney general either ‘directly or indirectly’ leaked the details of the plea agreement to the outlet – thereby making a fair trial for their clients impossible when it comes to picking a jury for the August 23 trial.

Floyd’s death helped spark the biggest protest movement in decades in the United States as people took to the streets across the country and around the world to decry police brutality and racism.

Minneapolis leaders announced last week they are bolstering security measures in the city, including bringing thousands of National Guardsmen and additional police officers for Chauvin’s trial next month.

Barricades are seen around City Hall in preparation for Chauvin's March 8 trial

Barricades are seen around City Hall in preparation for Chauvin's March 8 trial

Barricades are seen around City Hall in preparation for Chauvin’s March 8 trial 

In anticipation of the trial, the city has already started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall (pictured last week)

In anticipation of the trial, the city has already started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall (pictured last week)

In anticipation of the trial, the city has already started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall (pictured last week) 

The city has already started installing a security perimeter around the Hennepin County Government Center, City Hall, and nearby buildings.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said law enforcement presence in the city will increase in coming weeks and will peak during the trial, with the help of up to 2,000 National Guard members and 1,100 law enforcement officers from 12 agencies.

‘No one is going to give away the ghost on exactly how many, and who is going to be where and when, because that’s just not good strategic planning,’ National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Hawks said of the preparations.

‘But what I can say is that it will flex, and those numbers are certainly a number that has been discussed,’

Attempts were made to create a $35million fund to bolster security during Chauvin’s trial and that of the other three officers but it was rejected by the Democratic-controlled Minnesota House this month. 

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk