REVEALED: Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin will be tried alone in March due to COVID-19 restrictions, while three other George Floyd cops will stand trial together in summer

A former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee to the neck of George Floyd for several minutes will be tried separately from three other former officers accused in his death, according to scheduling orders filed Tuesday.

Derek Chauvin will stand trial alone in March due to the coronavirus pandemic while the other three former officers will be tried together in the summer, according to the orders filed in Hennepin County District Court.

The ruling is good news for the other three police officers who have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter - Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34.

'It is a very favorable decision for my client,' Earl Gray, Lane's attorney, told The Wall Street Journal.

Gray said the decision was a 'surprise in some ways.' 

The attorneys for Chauvin, Kueng, and Thao declined to comment.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is handling the prosecution of the four officers, expressed disappointment in the judge's decision.

'The evidence against each defendant is similar and multiple trials may retraumatize eyewitnesses and family members and unnecessarily burden the State and the Court while also running the risk of prejudicing subsequent jury pools,' he said in a statement. 

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was filmed pressing his knee against the neck of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, moments before Floyd died in police custody on May 25, will be tried separately from three other cops involved in the incident, a judge ruled 

Judge Peter Cahill cited the limitations of physical space during the coronavirus pandemic for his order to split the defendants' trials. The defendants are pictured above (clockwise from top left): Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Keung, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane

Police initially sought to detain Floyd for allegedly passing counterfeit money. Floyd is pictured in this undated file photo

Judge Peter Cahill cited the limitations of physical space during the coronavirus pandemic for his order to split the defendants' trials. 

It is 'impossible to comply with COVID-19 physical restrictions' given how many lawyers and support personnel that four defendants say would be present, Cahill wrote.

Last week, prosecutors asked Cahill to postpone the March 8 trial to June 7 to reduce public health risks associated with COVID-19. 

In his order Tuesday, the judge wrote that while the pandemic situation may be greatly improved by June, 'the Court is not so optimistic given news reports detailing problems with the vaccine rollout.'

Cahill cited a request from Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette after last week's hearing to reconsider having all four defendants tried in March due to space concerns. 

Barnette wrote that in his view that the courtroom could handle up to three defendants at once.

Derek Chauvin (pictured in court on September 11 in a court drawing in the center) is charged with murdering George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American whose death in May sparked nationwide protests

Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd´s neck while he was handcuffed face down on the street. 

Police were investigating whether Floyd used a counterfeit bill at a nearby store. 

In a video widely seen on social media, Floyd could be heard pleading with officers for air, saying he couldn't breathe.

Floyd's death sparked protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere and renewed calls for an end to police brutality and racial inequities.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd´s death.  

Defense attorneys had argued last year that the officers should be tried separately, since each officer might seek to diminish their own role in Floyd's arrest and death by pointing fingers at the other officers. 

Prosecutors had argued against dividing the trial, saying the evidence against all four is similar, the officers acted together and the public and witnesses should be spared the trauma of multiple trials.

Thao, Kueng and Lane are now scheduled to stand trial together beginning August 23.

Last month, Cahill upheld his decision to livestream the trials of the four former police officers.

Floyd's death sparked nationwide and global protest over racial justice. A protester is seen above near a building that was set on fire during a demonstration in Minneapolis on May 29 - four days after Floyd's death

He dismissed the arguments of prosecutors who claimed that allowing cameras inside the courtroom could violate court rules or scare away witnesses.

Cahill reaffirmed his previous ruling from November and said that he would allow video coverage due to immense global interest in the case as well as protecting the defendants' Sixth Amendment rights and the public and media's First Amendment rights. 

Cahill also cited the size of the courtrooms and 'unique and unprecedented situation' brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic as an other reason.