The Department of Justice is investigating whether they will now charge Derek Chauvin over a 2017 incident where he knelt on a black 1...
The Department of Justice is investigating whether they will now charge Derek Chauvin over a 2017 incident where he knelt on a black 14-year-old boy's neck for nearly 17 minutes.
Chauvin, a fired Minneapolis police officer, was convicted this week of killing George Floyd after kneeling on the black man's neck for nine minutes while he was arresting him last May.
Following the conviction, a source told ABC News that the Justice Department is probing whether to now bring federal charges against Chauvin for the 2017 arrest and the one involving Floyd.
Federal prosecutors had witnesses testify before a grand jury two months ago regarding the 2017 incident.
The DOJ probe is still ongoing and the Minneapolis Police Department recently was briefed on it.
Chauvin, who is white, has never faced any charges over the 2017 arrest.
The Department of Justice is investigating whether they will charge Derek Chauvin over a 2017 incident where he knelt on a black 14-year-old boy's neck for nearly 17 minutes. Chauvin was convicted this week of killing George Floyd during an arrest last May
The details regarding the 2017 emerged late last year when state prosecutors tried to convince a judge to let them use Chauvin's prior use-of-force incidents.
The judge banned prosecutors from telling jurors about the 2017 incident.
In court documents, prosecutors said body cam video showed Chauvin and another officer responding to a domestic assault September 4, 2017 in which a mother said she was assaulted by her teenage son and daughter.
The body cam footage has not been released.
The officers arrived to find the 14-year-old boy lying on the floor of his bedroom while on his phone.
They ordered him to get up because he was under arrest.
When he refused, Chauvin grabbed him and struck the teen in the head with his flashlight, the court documents say.
Chauvin then grabbed him by the throat before hitting him again with the flashlight.
Prosecutors had argued this all occurred less than a minute after the officers first encountered the boy.
Chauvin applied a neck restraint to the boy, who briefly went unconscious, and then placed him in a prone position with a knee in his back for about 17 minutes until paramedics arrived.
The details regarding the 2017 emerged late last year when state prosecutors tried to convince a judge to let them use Chauvin's prior use-of-force incidents during the trial. He was convicted of killing Floyd after kneeling on his neck for nine minutes
He held his knee on the boy, who was bleeding from the ear, even after he said he was in pain and couldn't breathe, prosecutors said.
According to the court documents, the boy's mother asked Chauvin four separate times to take his knee off her son. On one occasion she pointed out her son said he couldn't breathe.
Following his conviction, it emerged the Justice Department is probing whether to now bring federal charges against Chauvin for the 2017 arrest and the one involving Floyd
She also noted that her son was in handcuffs and couldn't do anything to Chauvin. At one point, the mother said Chauvin had hit her son with the flashlight for no reason.
Chauvin took his knee off the teenager after paramedics arrived.
A paramedics who assessed the boy briefly while he was held down noted that he would likely need stitches for the wound on his ear.
The teenager was arrested for domestic assault and obstruction with force.
Prosecutors argued that Chauvin's use of force regarding the boy was similar to the incident involving Floyd.
'As was true with the conduct with George Floyd, Chauvin rapidly escalated his use of force for a relatively minor offense. Just like with Floyd, Chauvin used an unreasonable amount of force without regard for the need for that level of force or the victim’s well-being,' prosecutors argued in the court documents.
In his response, Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson had argued there were no comparisons because he acted according to MPD policy and was allowed to use a neck restraint in the 2017 incident.
The judge ended up ruling in the defense's favor and banned prosecutors from telling the jury of the 2017 arrest.
People lay flowers at a memorial in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis following Chauvin's conviction
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