ST. PAUL, Minnesota. The defense case in federal court for three former Minneapolis police officers charged with crimes related to the death of George Floyd ended on Monday with a common theme: They are innocent because their training made them trust a senior officer. at the scene, Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee to Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes until he stopped breathing.
Three former officers – Tou Tao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38, are accused of violating Mr Floyd’s constitutional rights, not intervening against Mr Chauvin and failing to provide Mr Floyd with medical care. All three testified in their own defense.
Following the completion of testimony on Monday, the jury will hear closing arguments from the prosecution and each of the defense attorneys on Tuesday, before deliberating.
During his murder trial last year, Mr. Chauvin called a paramedic, police officers, an eyewitness and a former medical examiner to testify on his behalf, but he did not come forward. He was convicted in state court of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
The three other officers present at the scene that day, still largely minor characters in the lingering national trauma caused by the 2020 murder of Mr Floyd, relied almost entirely on telling their own stories to defend themselves in court.
One by one, since last week, three former officers have testified at a federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota, explaining what they were doing and thinking when they answered a call from a convenience store salesman who said: Mr. Floyd used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes.
The first two officers to arrive on the scene, Mr. Kuang and Mr. Lane, who were on duty as full officers the first week, struggled to arrest Mr. Floyd, who repeatedly claimed to be claustrophobic and not wants to be put in jail. in the back seat of a police car.
The officers testified that they were concerned that Mr Floyd was showing symptoms of a drug overdose and was in a highly agitated state. They said holding him face down, even though he repeated over and over that he couldn’t breathe, was necessary, in part to protect Mr Floyd from injury. The scene was far more chaotic, and possibly more dangerous for the cops, than the video footage would suggest, they said.
But most of all, they said, they relied on Mr. Chauvin, the senior officer present, to keep everything under control.
“I think I would trust a 19-year-old veteran with this,” Mr. Tao said.
The officers’ testimonies came at the end of a month-long trial, which was a rare example of a civil rights case brought by the Justice Department against officers for failing to intervene against another officer who used excessive force.
Such cases were rare, partly because it is difficult to prove “intentionality”, which implies some form of intent, or at least the knowledge that what the officers saw was illegal. For the jury to decide that the three officers are guilty, it must be established that the officers knew at the time that Mr. Chauvin used excessive force and that Mr. Floyd was in a serious medical crisis.
The police officers thus walked a fine line in their testimony in attempting to accuse Mr. Chauvin—in effect, claiming to trust Mr. Chauvin’s actions because of his experience—without admitting that they knew that Mr. Chauvin acted illegally.
Understand the civil rights lawsuit over the death of George Floyd
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Police culture on trial. That federal civil rights litigation three former officers for their role in murder of George Floyd focuses on a key issue in the American police force: the duty of officers to intervene in the affairs of their colleagues when they witness misconduct.
New focus. Since the murder of Mr Floyd nearly two years ago, all eyes have been on the officer who killed him. Derek Chauvin. While Mr. Chauvin was convicted of murder last spring at the state court, he was not the only officer present that day.
Who are the officers under investigation? Three officers are accused of willfully refusing to intervene against Mr. Chauvin and help Mr. Floyd. To Tao, a veteran officer who was Mr. Chauvin’s partner, held back a group of passers-by. J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, both rookies, helped capture Mr. Floyd.
What are the charges? The allegations concern whether the defendants were stripped Mr Floyd of his civil rights. All three officers are accused of failing to provide medical attention to Mr. Floyd, while Mr. Kueng and Mr. Tao are also accused of failing to intervene in Mr. Chauvin’s use of force.
“He was my senior officer and I trusted his advice,” Mr. Kuang said.
Officers are required to intervene in the affairs of other officers who commit crimes. But that commitment is often ignored, experts say, because of a policing culture that emphasizes loyalty and discourages officers from speaking out against their own.
Mr. Tao and Mr. Kueng are charged with two counts of failing to intervene in Mr. Chauvin’s affairs and of failing to provide medical assistance to Mr. Floyd. Mr Lane, who twice asked Mr Chauvin during the episode if they should turn Mr Floyd on his side, is charged with one count of medical malpractice.
From the very beginning, the trial focused on the fact that police culture values loyalty to other officers above all else – the so-called blue wall of silence. Prosecutors sought to portray the defendants as ignoring their constitutional duties out of respect for the senior officer.
But the defense has tried to use the issue of culture in policing to their advantage, arguing that the Minneapolis Police Department’s training procedures are replete with paramilitary aspects, where recruits are taught to march in formation and obedience to superiors is seen as a guiding principle. .
Mr Kueng testified that the instruction on the duty to intervene was short and sloppy.
Three officers are still facing state court on charges of aiding and abetting a murder scheduled for June.