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BC-US-GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL-RIGHTS-CHAUVIN

Chauvin pleads guilty to federal charge in Floyd’s death

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. In doing so, Chauvin admitted for the first time that he held his knee across Floyd’s neck and kept it there even after Floyd became unresponsive, resulting in the Black man’s death. Chauvin’s plea Wednesday means he will not face a federal trial in January, though he could end up spending more years behind bars than he was expected to on his state murder conviction. Three other former officers indicted on federal charges alongside Chauvin this year remain on course for trial early next year.

GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS-EXPLAINER-CHAUVIN PLEA

EXPLAINER: What’s next after Derek Chauvin’s guilty plea?

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has pleaded guilty to a federal count alleging he willfully deprived George Floyd of his rights during the May 25, 2020, arrest that led to the Black man’s death. It means that Chauvin admitted for the first time that he violated Floyd’s rights. For Chauvin, it was probably attractive for removing the chance that he could spend life behind bars. Prosecutors are seeking 25 years, though with good time he would do less even if the judge gives the maximum. A plea agreement also calls for him to serve time in a federal facility, which one legal expert said would be safer than a state prison.

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Expert: Kim Potter was not justified in using deadly force

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A use-of-force expert has testified that former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was not justified in using deadly force when she fatally shot Daunte Wright. Seth Wayne Stoughton, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, said Wednesday that no reasonable officer could have believed that shooting Wright was necessary as he tried to flee an attempted arrest. His testimony undercut a defense claim that Potter would have been justified in shooting Wright even if she had intended to, though she has said she meant to pull her Taser. Potter is charged with manslaughter in Wright’s death. Prosecutors say even an intended use of a Taser on Wright would have violated her suburban Minneapolis police department’s policy.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER TRIAL-EXPLAINER-GUN AND TASER

EXPLAINER: How does an officer use a gun instead of a Taser?

At former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter’s manslaughter trial for fatally shooting Daunte Wright, a Black motorist, the core of her defense is clear: She says she meant to use her Taser but grabbed her handgun instead. Experts say such cases are rare, but they do happen. The prosecution’s use-of-force expert, Seth Stoughton, testified that he knew of “fewer than 20” cases. Similar cases have been reported in recent years in California, Oklahoma and Missouri. Bill Lewinski studies police psychology. He says officers sometimes perform the direct opposite of their intended actions under stress.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINNESOTA

Minnesota tops 10,000 virus deaths; other surgeries delayed

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota has topped 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths while hospitals around the state continue to delay surgeries as the coronavirus patients crowd hospitals. The state Department of Health on Wednesday reported 54 new deaths due to the virus, lifting the total fatalities to 10,018 since the start of the pandemic. Another 124 deaths were likely because of COVID-19 but weren’t confirmed by testing. A pandemic wave caused by a fast-spreading delta variant of the coronavirus this fall hastened the toll. It took 187 days from March to September to increase from 7,000 to 8,000 deaths, 58 days to reach 9,000 and 39 days to reach 10,000. Meanwhile, doctors say hospitals have deferred procedures to free up beds, leaving some patients in prolonged pain.

GROCERIES RUN OVER

Minnesota delivery driver cited after running over groceries

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Authorities say a Minnesota grocery delivery driver accused of running over bags of food she had dropped off in a Twin Cities suburb because she didn’t like the homeowners’ pro-police yard sign has been cited for criminal damage to property. The incident happened Dec. 6 after the elderly couple ordered $50 worth of groceries from Cub Foods to be delivered by Instacart to their home in Blaine. The driver allegedly scribbled a note on the receipt that complained about the delivery service pay and called police “racist pigs,” and drove back and forth over the groceries. Instacart fired the driver and refunded the couple’s grocery bill.

MEDICAID-FREE LUNCH PROGRAM

Medicaid now certifies kids for free lunch in 8 more states

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has added eight states to the 19 where students receiving Medicaid coverage will be automatically added to the program offering free or reduced-price school lunches. A news release Tuesday says those states are Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The department says this expands demonstration projects that have certified more than 1 million students for free means and nearly 260,000 for reduced-price meals since the 2012-2013 school year. It says the 27 states now involved represent about 75% of students nationwide.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER TRIAL-POTTER

At Kim Potter trial, jurors get 2 views of former officer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jurors at the Kim Potter trial are getting two versions of the officer who says she made a tragic mistake when she killed Daunte Wright by firing her handgun instead of her Taser. Prosecutors portray Potter as an experienced officer who was supposed to know better — and who compounded the damage by failing to try to help Wright or even to quickly radio in what happened so others might help him. The defense wants jurors to see the person who first became interested in policing when she was a girl in grade school, then balanced motherhood with a career in which she took a special interest in helping domestic abuse victims and had never fired her gun on duty.