One of the most important witnesses was Inspector Cathy Blackwell, a Minneapolis police officer who was previously in charge of training. She testified for three days about training recruits in the proper use of force and their constitutional duty to intervene when they see other officers using excessive force.
But defense attorneys attacked Inspector Blackwell, arguing that the department had failed to train officers to recognize when they were required to intervene, saying the discussion was formal and “little more than a word in PowerPoint.”
Understand the civil rights lawsuit over the death of George Floyd
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New focus. Since the murder of Mr Floyd on May 25, 2020, all eyes have been on the officer who killed him. Derek Chauvin. While Mr. Chauvin was convicted of murder at the state court in April 2021, he was not the only officer at the scene.
Respondents. Three officers were 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.
Accusations. The case concerned whether the defendants were stripped Mr Floyd of his civil rights. All three officers were charged with failing to provide medical treatment to Mr. Floyd, while Mr. Kueng and Mr. Tao also faced charges of failing to intervene against Mr. Chauvin’s use of force.
Verdict. Prosecutors argued that the officers knew at the time that Mr Floyd was in serious health and that Mr Chauvin was breaking the law. February 24, 2022 jurors found former officers guilty. The three men still face separate trials charged by the state.
Under cross-examination, Thomas Plunkett, Mr Kuang’s lawyer, played a recording of Al Pacino’s fiery speech as a football coach in “Any Sunday,” a clip that was shown to police recruits. academy. Mr Plunkett said his point was that the department was promoting a “cops against the world” mentality.
The defense also tried to focus jurors on the hierarchical and paramilitary aspects of police culture—how recruits are taught to obey their superiors and follow orders without question.
Unlike Mr. Chauvin, who did not testify at the trial, each of the three officers spoke in his defense. They all stated that they believed Mr. Chauvin, as a senior officer, was in charge and knew what he was doing, and that they did not acknowledge that Mr. Floyd was in a medical emergency.
“I think I would trust a 19-year-old veteran with this,” Mr. Tao said. Mr. Kueng, who had Mr. Chauvin as one of his field training officers, said: “He was my senior officer and I trusted his advice.”
To make things easier for the jury, prosecutors often used the phrase “in your custody, in your care” to describe the duty of officers to protect a detained suspect. At Mr. Chauvin’s trial last year, prosecutors similarly reduced their case to jurors to the slogan “believe your eyes,” arguing that it was as simple as what they saw in the eyewitness’ heartbreaking video.