George Floyd Verdict: 3 Ex-Officers Guilty of Civil Rights Violation [Full Details]

The three former Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of Black man George Floyd under the knee of their superior, Derek Chauvin, were found guilty of violating the victim's civil rights.

The jury of four men and eight women justified the conviction by saying that the three suspects showed deliberate indifference to Floyd's needs while Chauvin knelt on the victim's neck for nearly 10 minutes as he gasped for air on May 25, 2020.

Officers in Floyd's Death

Furthermore, the jurors said that two of the men, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, were guilty of an additional charge for allegedly failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. The third suspect, Thomas Lane, who did not face an extra charge, testified that he requested his superior two times to reposition Floyd while restraining him but noted that Chauvin denied him both times.

The Department of Justice noted that violation of a person's civil rights constitutes punishment by a range of imprisonment up to a life term or the death penalty, depending on the circumstances of the crime and the resulting injury on the victim, if any. Based on federal sentencing guidelines, the officers could receive a lesser sentence, as per CNN.

The three men are scheduled for trial in June on state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter of Floyd. After the verdict was announced, Ben Crump and other attorneys representing Floyd's family said in a statement that the former officers tried to make any excuse that would allow them to get away and wash their hands of the blood from the crime they committed.

They said that the jury's verdict should serve as the guiding example of why police departments across the United States should expand and prioritize instruction on an officer's duty to intervene. The legal experts also argued that law enforcement should be able to recognize when a fellow officer is using excessive force.

Month-Long Trial

According to NBC News, prosecutors argued in closing arguments that the defendants had "front-row seats" to Floyd's murder and decided not to do anything to assist him as their superior slowly killed the Black man. On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich said the three former police officers let the window of Floyd's life slam shut.

Specifically, Thao, the ex-cop who faced and held back bystanders during the encounter with Floyd, was convicted of depriving the victim of his right to medical care and willfully failing to interview. The second suspect, Kueng, who helped Chauvin by kneeling on the Black man's back, was convicted of the same charges.

The third, Lane, who held the victim's feet, was found guilty of failing to provide medical care for Floyd. The jury's deliberation lasted for 13 hours and lasted through Thursday afternoon, and their verdict comes after about a month-long trial.

The case involved testimony from an officer who provided medical training to two of the defendants as well as the defendants themselves. On Wednesday, the judge who oversaw the federal trial, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, ordered that the jurors' names be sealed for at least ten days, USA Today reported.

Tags

Verdict, Guilty