Federal inmate accused of stabbing Derek Chauvin can represent himself at trial

The federal inmate charged in December with stabbing former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in an Arizona prison can represent himself in court after a judge agreed to a request to waive his right to legal representation, court documents show.

During an hourlong hearing Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynnette Kimmins, the court ruled that John Turscak must still be granted "advisory/standby counsel" and "reasonable access to 'law books, witnesses, or other tools to prepare a defense.'"

A trial date set for next month was moved to Aug. 20, with an Aug. 2 plea deadline.

T.S. Hartzell, a lawyer who was named Thursday as Turscak's standby counsel, declined to comment Friday.

Turscak, 52, attacked Chauvin, who is in prison for the murder of George Floyd, with an "improvised knife" at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson on Nov. 24, federal prosecutors said. May 25 will mark four years since the death of Floyd, whose killing at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked nationwide protests and a racial reckoning movement.

Federal prosecutors said Turscak told them he had been thinking about assaulting Chauvin for about a month because the former officer was such a high-profile inmate.

Turscak was charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to federal prosecutors.

He also allegedly told federal prosecutors that he chose the day of the attack — the day after Thanksgiving, known as "Black Friday" — to symbolize the Black Lives Matter movement and the "Black Hand" symbol of the Mexican Mafia. According to a criminal complaint, Turscak told corrections officers that he would have killed Chauvin had they not responded so quickly.

Turscak's current release date is listed as June 4, 2026.

Federal prosecutors in Arizona declined to comment Friday citing ongoing litigation.

Chauvin was treated in a trauma care facility but later returned to prison. He is serving a 22 1/2-year sentence for kneeling on Floyd's neck for 9½ minutes while Floyd said he couldn't breathe and went limp. The former officer is simultaneously serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com