St. Paul defense attorney Paul Applebaum, who is not involved in the case, said another factor the judge could have weighed in his decision to hold two separate trials was that the other defendants may not want Chauvin’s record of misconduct held against them by jurors.
“The other obvious reason would be that the co-defendants are going to blame Mr. Chauvin, they’re going to point the finger at him,” Applebaum said. “So they’d have what’s called mutually inconsistent or antagonistic defenses.”
The verdict of Chauvin’s trial also could potentially impact the other three officers five months later, he said.
Chauvin to be tried separately in Floyd case
Jon Collins, MPR News