MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three former officers who were with Derek Chauvin during the arrest that led to George Floyd’s killing are on trial on charges they violated the Black man’s civil rights. In opening statements Monday, a prosecutor accused J. Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao of standing by as Chauvin “slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them.”
One defense attorney countered that Chauvin, the senior officer, called the shots that day.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Floyd, 46, died on May 20, 2020, after Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck and pinned him to the street for 9 1/2 minutes as he was facedown and gasping for air. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back and Lane held down Floyd’s legs. Thao kept bystanders from intervening.
THE FEDERAL CHARGES
Kueng, Lane and Thao are broadly accused of willfully depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights while acting under “color of law,” or government authority. Chauvin pleaded guilty to one count of violating Floyd’s civil rights and is not on trial with his former colleagues.
Thao and Kueng are charged with willfully violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure by not intervening to stop Chauvin. The indictment says they knew what Chauvin was doing and that Floyd was handcuffed, unresisting and eventually unresponsive. It’s not clear why Lane, who held Floyd’s legs, is not mentioned in that count, but evidence shows he asked twice whether Floyd should be rolled on his side.
Kueng, Lane and Thao are all charged with willfully depriving Floyd of his liberty without due process, specifically depriving him of the right to be free from an officer’s deliberate indifference to his medical needs. The indictment says the three men saw Floyd needed medical care and willfully failed to aid him.
Both counts allege the officers’ actions resulted in Floyd’s death.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE STATE CASE?
The three officers are also charged in state court with aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter.
State prosecutors must prove the officers helped Chauvin commit murder or manslaughter, while federal prosecutors must show they violated Floyd’s rights, essentially by failing to intervene or provide medical help.
Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor and now a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, drew this distinction: The state case is about what the officers did, and the federal case is about what they didn’t do.
The state trial is scheduled to begin June 13.
RARE PROSECUTIONS
To bring federal charges in deaths involving police, prosecutors must believe that an officer acted under the “color of law,” or government authority, and willfully deprived someone of their constitutional rights, including the right to be free from unreasonable seizures or the use of unreasonable force. That’s a high legal standard; an accident, bad judgment or simple negligence on the officer’s part isn’t enough to support federal charges.
Essentially, prosecutors must prove that the officers knew what they were doing was wrong but did it anyway.
Historically, federal charges have been brought after a state case was unsuccessful, Phil Turner, another former federal prosecutor, said. He pointed to the 1991 police beating of Rodney King as an example. After the Los Angeles officers were acquitted in state court, federal charges were brought “because the state system failed and it was obvious to everyone that it was a miscarriage of justice,” Turner said. Two of the four officers were ultimately convicted in federal court.
Most of the high-profile fatal shootings by police in recent years have not resulted in federal charges, though activists have called for them. An exception is the case of Michael Slager, a white South Carolina police officer who fatally shot Walter Scott in the back as the unarmed, 50-year-old Black man ran from a 2015 traffic stop.
Slager’s state murder case ended with a hung jury and mistrial in 2016. A year later, he pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Scott’s civil rights; prosecutors dropped state murder charges. Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Over the last 20 years, several corrections officers have been convicted of violating the civil rights of inmates who have died after they were denied medical care — sometimes after an assault. The allegation involving deprivation of medical care is similar to the count all three former Minneapolis officers face in Floyd’s killing.
WHAT SENTENCE COULD THEY FACE?
Federal civil rights violations that result in death are punishable by up to life in prison or even death, but those sentences are extremely rare. Federal sentencing guidelines rely on complicated formulas that indicate the officers would get much less if convicted.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the killing of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
Defense: Chauvin called ‘all of the shots’ when Floyd killed
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights accused the men Monday of standing by as fellow Officer Derek Chauvin “slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them.”
But one defense attorney countered during opening statements of the former officers’ trial that Chauvin called “all of the shots” as the senior officer at the scene and criticized the Minneapolis Police Department for doing too little to train officers to intervene when a colleague should be stopped. Another officer’s attorney focused on Floyd’s struggle with police before they restrained him. And an attorney for the third officer said his client raised concerns about the restraint of Floyd, but was rebuffed.
Former Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are broadly charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority. Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin pressed him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the 46-year-old Black man was facedown, handcuffed and gasping for air. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders from intervening.
Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter last year in state court in the videotaped killing that triggered worldwide protests and a reexamination of racism and policing. Chauvin also pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
“For second after second, minute after minute, these three CPR-trained defendants stood or knelt next to Officer Chauvin as he slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them,” prosecutor Samantha Trepel, who works for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, told the juryduring opening statements. “They chose not to protect George Floyd, the man they had handcuffed and placed in their custody.”
Tom Plunkett, Kueng’s attorney, highlighted the rookie status of his client and Lane, and said both men deferred to Chauvin and called him “sir.”
“You’ll see and hear officer Chauvin call all of the shots,” said Plunkett, who also hammered at what he called the Minneapolis Police Department’s lack of training, including on intervention against the unreasonable use of force.
Plunkett noted that Chauvin was Kueng’s field training officer, and as such had “considerable sway” over his future. He also said that Kueng and Lane were not trained in the department’s policy on neck restraint.
He also said that under department policy, Lane actually should have been in charge, because he was the most senior officer in the first car to arrive. Lane and Kueng were responding to a 911 call accusing Floyd of using a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. Thao and Chauvin responded as backup.
Earlier, Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule, said Floyd’s death was a tragedy, “however, a tragedy is not a crime.” He also said a widely watched bystander video of the arrest does not show everything, including Floyd struggling with officers who were trying to put him in a police vehicle.
Kueng, who is Black; Lane, who is white; and Thao, who is Hmong American, are all charged for failing to provide Floyd with medical care. Thao and Kueng face an additional count for failing to stop Chauvin, who is white. Both counts allege the officers’ actions resulted in Floyd’s death.
“We will ask you to hold these men accountable for choosing to do nothing and watch a man die,” Trepel said.
Attorneys for both Kueng and Thao noted that prosecutors must prove the officers willfully violated Floyd’s constitutional rights. It’s a high legal standard; essentially, prosecutors must prove that the officers knew what they were doing was wrong, but did it anyway.
Trepel said videos will show Thao stood directly next to Chauvin, but instead of intervening, he taunted Floyd for using drugs, telling bystanders, “This is why you don’t” use drugs.
She said Kueng “never once” told Chauvin to get off Floyd, even after Floyd stopped struggling and Kueng could not find a pulse. Instead, she said, Keung remained kneeling on Floyd.
Plunkett said Kueng told Chauvin that he could not detect a pulse.
Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said Lane was at Floyd’s legs and could not see Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck.
Lane at one point suggested that they use a restraint called the hobble on Floyd, which would have meant Floyd would have been on his side “and no doubt he’d be alive today,” Gray said. But he said Chauvin said no. Lane also suggested twice that they roll Floyd over, but was rebuffed, Gray said.
Gray also said Lane called an ambulance because of a cut on Floyd’s lip and that Lane later had another officer increase the urgency of the ambulance code. Gray noted that Lane later got into the ambulance and helped perform chest compressions on Floyd.
“Mr. Lane, from the beginning of the time that he came into contact with George Floyd until the time he walked out of that ambulance, he was totally concerned and did everything he could possibly do to help George Floyd,” Gray said.
Later, prosecutors began introducing video taken from Lane’s body camera that shows Floyd’s struggle with officers, Floyd being held on the ground and the arrival of paramedics. The video shows Lane at Floyd’s feet — at times he was holding one of Floyd’s calves, at times his hands were not on Floyd at all, and at times he appeared to be squatting or standing.
Last week, 18 people were swiftly chosen for the jury; 12 will deliberate and six will be alternates. Two of the jurors — one expected to deliberate and one alternate — appear to be of Asian descent. The rest appear to be white. The court declined to provide demographic information.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson told jurors that the trial could last four weeks. Gray said Lane will testify, but it’s not known if Thao or Kueng will. It’s also not clear whether Chauvin will testify, though many experts who spoke to The Associated Press believe he won’t.
Lane, Kueng and Thao also face a separate state trial in June on charges they aided and abetted both murder and manslaughter.
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Associated Press writer Tammy Webber contributed from Fenton, Michigan.
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Find AP’s full coverage of the killing of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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The spelling of Kueng has been corrected in all references. The attribution for the quote, ‘however, a tragedy is not a crime,’ has been corrected.