The trial on state charges facing Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao will be pushed back to March 2022, a judge ruled Thursday. The former Minneapolis police officers are also facing federal charges over the death of George Floyd that outweigh state charges of aiding and abetting.

The former officers' trial had been set to begin on Aug. 23. But Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill postponed it until March 7, citing federal charges against the three that were announced last week. The judge also said he wants to put distance between the state trial and the massive publicity that surrounded Derek Chauvin's murder trial – which Cahill also oversaw.

"Bottom line, we're not going to trial in August. We need space," the judge said, according to a press pool report from inside the courtroom.

Defense attorneys for Kueng, Lane and Thao agreed with the judge's decision, NPR reports. State prosecutors had wanted to keep the original trial date. But Cahill acknowledged concerns about giving them a fair trial, and he noted that jury questionnaires have not yet been sent to potential members of the jury that will hear the state's case.

In the federal charges, Kueng and Thao are accused of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin from pressing his knee onto Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes on the asphalt last year. Along with Lane, the former officers also face charges that they showed "deliberate indifference" to Floyd's suffering, by failing to provide medical care.