Civil Rights Trial/George Floyd: Tou Thau, Thomas Lane, Alexander Kueng

[RVInit]

The trial for the three other officers who were on the scene of George Floyd's murder started yesterday. As expected, they are pointing to Chauvin as the culprit and also two of them are pointing at insufficient training. I think we saw that coming when they asked for their trials to be separated from Chauvin's.

Thou Thau was Chauvin's partner, and a veteran officer. The two younger officers were both considered rookies. Lane and Kueng were first on the scene and Lane's approach of Floyd was cringeworthy and set the stage for the whole thing to go south, IMO. Floyd is sitting in his car and the next thing he's experiencing is a police officer with gun drawn screaming obscenities at him.

Apparently Lane is going to testify. In spite of the fact that I think he himself set the stage for a bad encounter, he's actually the only officer that even tried to get Chauvin to turn Floyd over on his side instead of keeping him pinned to the ground with weight on his neck, back, and legs.

I suspect the two rookies' attorneys may paint a picture of the two rookies being at least somewhat intimidated by the two veteran cops and hesitant to go against Chauvin. But the prosecutor opened with statements to the jury about the officer's legal obligation to step in and do something in the event another officer is using excessive force.

As far as I know this trial won't be televised, so we will rely on reports from reporters sitting in the courtroom.

The New York Times article I read indicated this is a far less diverse jury than at Chauvin's state trial. I really hope the jury gets this right. If they give all three of these officer's a pass, that could hurt efforts to get these instances of excessive force under control. I don't see any way this is going to stop unless officers are willing and able to intervene, stop, and report these activities by cops like Chauvin. Chauvin got away with this behavior for a long time, he had a long history of using excessive force.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/24 ... orge-floyd

[filly]

Thanks for starting this thread. IIRC Lane may have been new to MPD but was not new to LE. So *rookie* is an interesting term here.

[RVInit]

Thanks for starting this thread. IIRC Lane may have been new to MPD but was not new to LE. So *rookie* is an interesting term here.

I did not know that, thank you for pointing that out! Interesting. That's what I get for just taking it for granted that the article was characterizing him correctly.

[bob]

Daily Beast: Three Ex-Cops on Scene for George Floyd’s Murder Found Guilty in Federal Trial:

The verdict will serve as a benchmark for convicting bad cops, and specifically for cases when officers’ worst offense may be that they helped or failed to stop a colleague.

When Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder for fatally kneeling on George Floyd for over nine minutes, the American criminal justice system took a very modest step toward holding killer cops accountable. But even as Chauvin faced decades in prison, none of the other cops on scene when he murdered the 46-year-old Black man begging for air had been convicted.

That changed on Thursday, when a federal jury found Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights. The ex-cops were convicted on all charges, which accused the trio of failing to render medical aid to Floyd. Kueng and Thao were also charged for failing to intervene.

* * *

In addition to the guilty verdicts, the jury unanimously found their crimes resulted in Floyd’s death—a conclusion that will be crucial at the officers’ sentencing. Judge Paul Magnuson allowed the three men to leave the courthouse on pre-established bail conditions ahead of their sentencing. A date for that hearing has yet to be set.

Kueng and Lane helped hold Floyd down by his back and legs, respectively. And Thao kept an increasingly desperate crowd of onlookers who knew they were witnessing a crime at bay.

* * *

Specifically, federal prosecutors said all three willfully deprived Floyd of civil rights under the color of law—that is, as police officers—by failing to provide medical aid when he clearly needed it. Thao and Kueng were also charged with failing to intervene to halt Chauvin’s unreasonable use of force.

* * *

During the trial, all three former officers took the stand in their own defense, claiming they received inconsistent training about what to do during the chaotic situation—and deferred to Chauvin and his seniority. The trio’s testimony can now be used against them during their state trial that is set to begin in June.

[LM K]

This is excellent news.

[RVInit]

Glad to hear they were held accountable. One of them, I think it may have been Kueng, made a single attempt to suggest that Floyd be turned over onto his side. But when Chauvin said "he's staying right where he's at" nobody else attempted to intervene. I thought the jury might give Kueng a bit of credit for that, but I guess not enough to make a difference on any particular charge. I bet he's kicking himself for not insisting on doing the right thing.

The more bad cops we get out of service, the easier and easier it will become for the better cops to stand up to the fewer remaining bad apples, or at least that's the hope. It can't happen fast enough.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Glad to hear they were held accountable. One of them, I think it may have been Kueng, made a single attempt to suggest that Floyd be turned over onto his side. But when Chauvin said "he's staying right where he's at" nobody else attempted to intervene. I thought the jury might give Kueng a bit of credit for that, but I guess not enough to make a difference on any particular charge. I bet he's kicking himself for not insisting on doing the right thing.

The more bad cops we get out of service, the easier and easier it will become for the better cops to stand up to the fewer remaining bad apples, or at least that's the hope. It can't happen fast enough.

It was Lane, and as a result he wasn't charged with failure to intervene.

[RVInit]

Glad to hear they were held accountable. One of them, I think it may have been Kueng, made a single attempt to suggest that Floyd be turned over onto his side. But when Chauvin said "he's staying right where he's at" nobody else attempted to intervene. I thought the jury might give Kueng a bit of credit for that, but I guess not enough to make a difference on any particular charge. I bet he's kicking himself for not insisting on doing the right thing.

The more bad cops we get out of service, the easier and easier it will become for the better cops to stand up to the fewer remaining bad apples, or at least that's the hope. It can't happen fast enough.

It was Lane, and as a result he wasn't charged with failure to intervene.

Thank you for the correction!

[raison de arizona]

I don't think there is a thread specifically for this one, but it fits here.

3 former police officers charged in George Floyd's death reject plea deal
By Omar Jimenez, CNN Apr 12, 2022

Three former Minneapolis police officers set to stand trial on state charges in George Floyd's death have rejected a plea deal with prosecutors, the Minnesota attorney general's office told CNN.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane face a state trial -- currently slated for mid-June -- on charges of aiding and abetting over their role in the fatal restraint of Floyd on a Minneapolis street in May 2020. They have pleaded not guilty.

The officers were offered the plea deals on March 22, the attorney general's office said. That was just a few weeks after they were found guilty in federal court of violating Floyd's civil rights.

The attorney general's office would not provide details of what the proposed plea deals entailed. Terms of the offer are expected to be made public when the trio's state trial begins.

https://www.wlfi.com/news/national/3-fo ... 2c695.html

[Volkonski]

[Dave from down under]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-08/ ... /101219794

Former police officer Derek Chauvin has made no apologies to George Floyd's family before being sentenced to 21 years in prison for violating Floyd's rights, wishing his children "all the best" in becoming "good adults".

District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticised Chauvin for his actions as Mr Floyd lay dying.

Mr Floyd's killing sparked protests worldwide in a reckoning over police brutality and racism.

"I really don't know why you did what you did," the judge said. "To put your knee on a person's neck until they expired is simply wrong … Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive."