Trial for former MPD Officer Brian Cummings delayed to next May

MINNEAPOLIS --  The former Minneapolis police officer charged in connection to a fatal high-speed collision that killed Leneal Frazier last year will now have his trial next spring.

Originally set to begin in a couple weeks, Brian Cummings' trial is now scheduled to tentatively begin on May 1, 2023. The judge delayed the trial during a hearing Monday afternoon.

Cummings faces second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide charges in the deadly crash. He pleaded not guilty in December.

In April, the judge denied a motion by Cummings' attorneys to dismiss the charges against him.

The complaint says Cummings was in pursuit of a stolen vehicle in north Minneapolis on July 6, 2021 when his marked squad car slammed into the driver's side of Frazier's Jeep at nearly 80 mph. Before the crash, Cummings was following the stolen vehicle at high speeds "at or approaching 100 mph" through numerous stop signs, red lights, and partially obstructed intersections.

Cummings is no longer employed by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Frazier, 40, was a father of five and the uncle of Darnella Frazier, the teenager who filmed the viral video of George Floyd's death.