DEREK CHAUVIN

Minneapolis pays $9 million to settle Chauvin excessive force suits

Matt Sepic / MPR News — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 20:12:39 GMT

The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday approved settlements totaling nearly $9 million with two people who alleged that former police officer Derek Chauvin used excessive force against them.

John Pope, 20, and Zoya Code, 40, sued the city last year, alleging that Chauvin kneeled on their necks in separate incidents in 2017.

Chauvin killed George Floyd in 2020 by using a similar restraint. The former police officer is serving a prison sentence of 22 1/2 years for Floyd's murder and a concurrent federal sentence on related civil rights charges.

Pope, who was 14 at the time of his encounter with Chauvin, settled for $7.5 million. Code settled for $1.375 million.

According to court documents, Code’s mother called 911 and said that Code had tried to choke her with an extension cord. Code has said she merely tried to grab the cord as her mother was swinging it.

Two Minneapolis officers responded, including Chauvin. Inside the house, they grabbed Code and handcuffed her. Chauvin wrenched Code’s handcuffed arms up behind her head and carried her outside, as the other officer carried her feet.

Chauvin then slammed Code’s head to the ground and kneeled on her neck for nearly five minutes.

Two months later, Pope’s mother called 911 following an argument about phone chargers.

On edited body camera video that the plaintiffs’ attorney released Thursday, Pope is heard arguing with police, but he does not resist arrest. Chauvin struck Pope in the head with a flashlight multiple times before putting him in a chokehold, then pinned him to the floor for more than 15 minutes with his knee on Pope’s upper back and neck.

The force used against Code and Pope “is an example of the cancer that has infected this department,” Brian O’Hara, the Minneapolis police chief, said after the council’s vote.

O’Hara, who took over the department late last year, said Chauvin’s badge number has been “destroyed” and will not be reused.

Body camera footage shows that Chauvin had a practice of using excessive force, said Bob Bennett, the attorney who represented Pope and Code in their suits against the city.

The failure of other officers to intervene or report Chauvin’s actions is “evidence of a systemic failure and a department’s culture that totally lacked the ability to hold itself accountable to professional standards,” Bennett added.

City Council member Elliott Payne called Chauvin's actions a sign of the larger culture problem within the police department.

"These cases are a reminder that he got to exist that way as part of our institution,” Payne said. “And it's actually not a Derek Chauvin problem. It's an institution problem.”

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Chauvin’s attorney makes case for new trial to Minnesota Court of Appeals

Kim Hyatt / Star Tribune — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 22:14:44 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- Derek Chauvin's attorney on Wednesday, Jan. 18, made his argument before the Minnesota Court of Appeals to throw out his convictions in the murder of George Floyd, the latest and what could be the final courtroom proceeding in his case that spans nearly three years.

When the ex-Minneapolis police officer knelt on the unarmed Black man's neck for more than 9 minutes, the world responded to bystander footage of the killing with outrage, riots and protests by the thousands. But Chauvin's appellate attorney William Mohrman said all that pretrial publicity — the unrest and calls for police reform — made it impossible to get a fair trial.

"The main remedy my client is looking for is a new trial," Mohrman contended before the three-judge panel.

A Hennepin County jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021, and he was sentenced to 22½ years that June. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of violating Floyd's civil rights and received a concurrent 21-year sentence that he cannot appeal.

Mohrman asked for state convictions to be reversed, and if not, he wants a new trial outside Hennepin County.

"The primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse that's surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers and a squad of National Guard troops all... there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant," he said.

Even if Chauvin wins his appeal, he will still have to serve his federal sentence. He's in custody at a medium security federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. A decision on his appeal will be issued within 90 days.

Mohrman has represented controversial landlords accused of substandard conditions and won a major victory several years ago when the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a 101-year-old law that made it a crime to make false political statements about a ballot question.

In Chauvin's appeal, he argued that the State failed to prove sufficient probable cause, among other alleged legal errors outlined in his brief, and the jury was tainted since the killing and trial all happened in Minneapolis.

The pretrial publicity was pervasive and Mohrman pointed to the "physical pressure on the courthouse" and concerns jurors had for their safety. Mohrman said what made this case unique was the unrest that followed Floyd's killing. Leading up to Chauvin's verdict, he said the city braced for more riots in the event of an acquittal.

Media coverage was more extensive than any other trial in Minnesota's history, he added, and said the court's discretion was abused when denied a change in venue.

"The jurors that sat on this jury had a stake in the outcome of the case because they lived here where the riots occurred," he said. "If this case gets moved out state, the likelihood of having riots in the community where the jurors are living, I believe will be a zero."

Chauvin's was the Minnesota trial to be livestreamed to viewers worldwide. Minnesota is one of the few states that still bans cameras in the courtroom without rare exceptions. District Judge Peter Cahill allowed live streaming of Chauvin's trial because of the pandemic and high public interest.

Wednesday's appeal hearing was also live streamed. Each party had 15 minutes to make their oral arguments— a snapshot of their lengthy written briefs — and a significant amount of that time was focused on the venue issue and one juror who Mohrman accuses of lying.

Brandon Mitchell, a Black man who was then 31, was one of 12 jurors who convicted Chauvin and the first juror to go public about his role. After the verdict, a photo of him at an August 2020 Washington, D.C., event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech drew criticism and potential bases for an appeal.

Mitchell was shown wearing a T-shirt with a picture of King surrounded by the words, "GET YOUR KNEE OFF OUR NECKS" and "BLM" (Black Lives Matter).

"I'd never been to (Washington) D.C.," Mitchell told the Star Tribune after the post surfaced. "The opportunity to go to D.C., the opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of Black people; I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something."

Mohrman contended that Mitchell lied about whether he participated in any protest in Minneapolis because Mitchell answered no. Court of Appeals Judge Peter M. Reyes Jr. told Mohrman that he doesn't believe Mitchell was lying because the march Mitchell attended was outside Minneapolis. Reyes said even Chauvin and his attorneys seemed to acknowledge the difference when Mitchell was seated as a juror.

Reyes said he had a hard time understanding Mohrman's argument regarding the juror, who he said seemed forthright about BLM and "that Black and racially and ethnically diverse people were not necessarily treated fairly by the police."

Neal Katyal, who was acting U.S. solicitor general during the Obama administration and served as one of the Special Prosecutors in Chauvin's murder trial, said in his oral argument that Chauvin's attorneys asked Mitchell seven times if he could render a fair verdict and they chose to seat him on the jury.

"(Mitchell) wasn't trying to hide the ball or anything like that. He was very clear about his views of police brutality and racism," Katyal said.

Katyal said that Chauvin's attorney cannot bait-and-switch now when it comes to that juror.

On the issue of venue, he said that Cahill made clear that even if the trial was in a smaller venue, the security would stand out and there would be the same fears of civil unrest.

Further, even if there were some minor faults in the trial, Katyal argued that any error is harmless. He said Chauvin's appeal arguments do not come close to reversing his convictions.

"It was one of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nation's history," he said.

Jurors heard from 44 witnesses, including bystanders and expert testimony, as well extensive video footage. He said they learned about Chauvin's training and how to avoid prone restraints because of positional asphyxia, "which is the very thing that killed Floyd."

Katyal said Floyd cried out "I can't breathe" more than 25 times under Chauvin's knee and at no point did Chauvin provide Floyd medical care, even when other officers noted he didn't have a pulse, even after Floyd stopped breathing and moving.

"Evidence of Chauvin's guilt was captured for the world to see," he said.

©2023 StarTribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Derek Chauvin taken to federal facility to serve time for killing George Floyd

Paul Walsh, Stephen Montemayor / Star Tribune — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:39:55 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was taken by U.S. marshals from a state prison to a federal facility to serve his time for killing George Floyd more than two years ago, a Minnesota corrections spokesman said.

Chauvin was picked up by marshals about 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights, Department of Corrections spokesman Nicholas Kimball said.

Marshals Service spokesman Michael Fuller said Chauvin was being flown to a federal prison. Fuller said that Chauvin would likely have been in ground transportation if bound for one of Minnesota's federal lockups.

Federal officials said late Wednesday afternoon that Chauvin was being moved to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in Tucson, Ariz., where there are medium- and high-security lockups.

Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Chauvin in July to more than 20 years in prison for violating the civil rights of Floyd and a Black Minneapolis teen. That is less than the term he was already serving on state murder charges for killing Floyd while arresting him in May 2020.

Magnuson said during sentencing that he intended to request that federal prison officials place Chauvin at a location near family who live between Iowa and Minnesota. But he acknowledged that judges cannot dictate where prison sentences are served.

The federal sentence is being served concurrently with his 22½-year state term for Floyd's murder. He will also serve five years of supervised release when he leaves custody in roughly 17 years.

When Chauvin, 46, pleaded guilty in December to violating Floyd's civil rights and admitted to kneeling on the neck of a then-14-year-old boy three years before Floyd's death, he agreed to a sentence of 20 to 25 years.

Federal prosecutors had asked for the longer sentence for Chauvin because, they argued, his state charges did not address his 2017 use of force against the boy, John Pope, nor did they account for his abuse of authority. Chauvin struck Pope on the head with a flashlight and pinned him under his knee in a similar manner to the restraint that caused Floyd's death.

Pope and 39-year-old Zoya Code have since filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits against Chauvin and the Minneapolis Police Department over Chauvin's use of the dangerous neck restraint.

On July 27, Magnuson sentenced ex-Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng to three years in prison and former officer Tou Thao to 3½ years on criminal civil rights charges related to the Floyd killing. They intend to appeal their sentences.

The sentencings brought to a close the Justice Department's criminal prosecution of the four ex-Minneapolis officers involved in Floyd's death. Earlier in July, former officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to 2½ years.

Last week, Kueng and Thao formally rejected a plea offer in court that would have allowed them to avoid a state trial and additional prison time from the federal civil rights sentence they received in connection with Floyd's killing. Lane agreed to plead guilty this summer to his state charges in an identical deal to the one the others turned down.

Staff writer Andy Mannix contributed to this report.

©2022 StarTribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Ex-cop Chauvin gets 20-plus years for violating George Floyd's civil rights

Matt Sepic and Jon Collins / MPR News — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 20:15:25 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Thursday to more than 20 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty late last year to federal charges that he violated George Floyd’s civil rights when he took Floyd’s life in May 2020.

Chauvin is currently serving a 22½-year sentence for his conviction on state murder and manslaughter charges at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. As part of his federal plea agreement, Chauvin will serve his state and federal sentences at the same time in federal prison.

Chauvin’s federal plea deal reached last year also admits guilt for a 2017 incident where he repeatedly struck 14-year-old John Pope and kneeled on his neck and upper back for about 15 minutes. Pope, now 19 years old, sued the city of Minneapolis in May.

“I hope he takes this time to think about what he could have done differently and what he did to others,” Pope told the court Thursday, noting that Chauvin's brutality went unchallenged for three years until Floyd’s killing.

‘You must be substantially punished’

Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd’s murder sparked unrest in the Twin Cities and across the country, as well as calls to re-envision American policing.

Prosecutor LeeAnn Bell told the court prior to sentencing that Chauvin’s sentence “needs to reflect the intentionality. He wasn’t a rookie. He’d been a police officer for years. He knew what his training was. He knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it anyway.”

Just before sentencing, Chauvin gave a brief statement where he addressed the Pope and Floyd families, although he did not apologize to either family for his actions.

"To the Pope family, Mr Pope: I hope you have a good relationship with your mother and also your sister, and I hope that you have the ability to get the best education possible to lead a productive and rewarding life,” Chauvin said.

To Floyd's children, he said: "I just want to say that I wish them all the best in their life and have excellent guidance in becoming great adults.”

Before handing down the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson told Chauvin, “I really don’t know why you did what you did. But to put your knee on another person’s neck until they’re deceased is wrong. And for that you must be substantially punished.”

‘Speaks to his character’

Prosecutors asked Magnuson last month to sentence Chauvin to 25 years in prison, arguing that Chauvin’s actions against Floyd were “cold-blooded,” and that Chauvin deserves a higher sentence for an earlier incident where he used a similar tactic on a 14-year-old boy.

Prosecutors also argued that a higher sentence would send a message to other police officers “that although they undoubtedly have a difficult job, and one that sometimes carries life and death responsibilities, their role in our criminal justice system is a limited one, and does not include imposing punishment.”

Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, asked the court last month to sentence Chauvin to no more than 20 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Nelson cited sealed letters from friends and family and “thousands” of letters of support he says Chauvin received from across the country that “speaks to his character and qualities as a human being.” Nelson argued that it’s clear Chauvin has expressed remorse for his actions and is ready to “continue to atone for his wrongdoing.”

‘I don’t hate you, Mr. Chauvin’

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, the victim impact statement from Courteney Ross, Floyd’s girlfriend, was read to the court. "I don’t hate you, Mr Chauvin,” it read. “I’m working on forgiving you because that’s what George Floyd would want me to do."

Carolyn Pawlenty, Chauvin's mother, thanked supporters and denounced the "misinformation" in the media that her son is racist and has no heart. "Everyone in Minnesota needs to heal and realize that all lives matter, no matter the color of your skin. Every life matters.”

She asked for federal prison placement in Minnesota or Iowa, close to family.

Three other former Minneapolis officers charged in Floyd’s killing were convicted in federal court in February of violating Floyd’s civil rights. They’ve yet to be sentenced.

Former officer Thomas Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in state court in May. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng’s trial on state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter is scheduled for October. Both men rejected plea deals from prosecutors.

Magnuson on Thursday made a point of telling Chauvin of the collateral damage he’d caused to Kueng, Lane and Thao. By taking control of the Floyd arrest scene that day, the judge told Chauvin he’d “absolutely destroyed the lives of three other young officers.”

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Derek Chauvin sentencing set for Thursday

Jon Collins / MPR News — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 19:28:47 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced to between 20 and 25 years in federal prison Thursday. He pleaded guilty late last year to federal charges that he violated George Floyd’s civil rights when he took Floyd’s life in May 2020.

Chauvin is currently serving a 22 and a half-year sentence for his conviction on state murder and manslaughter charges at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. As part of his federal plea agreement, Chauvin will serve his state and federal sentences at the same time in federal prison.

Chauvin’s federal plea deal reached last year also admits guilt for a 2017 incident where he repeatedly struck a 14-year-old boy and kneeled on his neck and upper back for about 15 minutes. Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 in state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson last month to sentence Chauvin to 25 years in prison, arguing that Chauvin’s actions against Floyd were “cold-blooded,” and that Chauvin deserves a higher sentence for an earlier incident where he used a similar tactic on a 14-year-old boy.

Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, asked the court last month to sentence Chauvin to no more than 20 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Three other former Minneapolis officers charged in Floyd’s killing were convicted in federal court in February of violating Floyd’s civil rights. They’ve yet to be sentenced.

Former officer Thomas Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in state court in May. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in September. Former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng’s trial on state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter is scheduled for October. Both men rejected plea deals from prosecutors.

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Former Minneapolis officer pleads guilty in George Floyd case

Reuters — Wed, 18 May 2022 15:35:56 GMT

One of three Minneapolis policemen who watched fellow officer Derek Chauvin kill George Floyd by kneeling on his neck pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter in the 2020 case, which triggered a wave of protests over racial injustice.

Chauvin, who is white, was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison last year after his conviction on charges of murdering Floyd, a Black man suspected of passing a counterfeit bill.

By entering the plea on Wednesday, now-former officer Thomas Lane avoided an upcoming trial on the more serious charge of aiding and abetting second-degree murder. He agreed to a sentence of three years in prison, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

The two other former officers involved in George Floyd's arrest, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, are scheduled to face trial in June on both of state charges, according to online Hennepin County Court records.

"His acknowledgment he did something wrong is an important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community and the nation," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement.

In February, Lane, Thao and Kueng were convicted on federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights by failing to give aid to him when he showed signs of distress while pinned under Chauvin's knee for more than nine minutes.

Chauvin has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he violated Floyd's civil rights.

Floyd's killing sparked protests in cities around the world against police brutality and racism.

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Report: Judge accepts Derek Chauvin plea deal in civil rights case

Forum News Service — Thu, 05 May 2022 14:49:55 GMT

ST. PAUL — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison, under a plea agreement accepted by the judge overseeing the federal civil rights cases for four officers in the killing of George Floyd.

The Associated Press reported on the terms of the plea agreement on Wednesday, May 4.

Chauvin pleaded guilty Dec. 15 to violating Floyd's civil rights. He will serve his federal sentence concurrently with his prison time from his state conviction in Floyd’s murder.

Three other officers — J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane — were found guilty on all federal civil rights charges related to Floyd’s killing. They are awaiting sentencing on those charges.

Kueng, Thao and Lane are scheduled to go on trial in state court next month on charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin in Floyd’s murder.

Chauvin on May 25, 2020, kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes, killing him. The incident, caught on video by a bystander, galvanized the U.S. police reform movement, set off a wave of protest, and culminated in Chauvin’s widely viewed trial.

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Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin appeals murder conviction in death of George Floyd

Brendan O'Brien / Reuters — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 19:17:50 GMT

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is appealing his conviction and sentence for the murder of George Floyd, arguing that the judge in his case abused his discretion and made multiple errors during the trial.

In the appeal filed in Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday, his lawyers raised 14 separate issues, including Judge Peter Cahill's decision to deny Chauvin's request to move the trial out of Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, because of the intense pretrial publicity.

"The overwhelming media coverage exposed the jurors —literally every day - to news demonizing Chauvin and glorifying Floyd which was more than sufficient to presume prejudice," the appeal said.

Chauvin, a white man, was convicted in April 2021 of killing Floyd by kneeling on the Black man's neck during a May 2020 arrest. Chauvin was sentenced to 22½ years. In December, Chauvin pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he violated Floyd's civil rights.

A jury found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. The verdict was widely seen as a landmark rebuke of the disproportionate use of police force against Black Americans.

The 82-page appeal asked the court to reverse the conviction and hold a new trial in a new venue or re-sentence Chauvin.

It also raised legal arguments against prosecutors, accusing them of misconduct by not disclosing all evidence they had and belittling the defense during closing arguments. It also said that prosecutors improperly prepared witnesses for testimony.

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Ex-officer says he feared angering Derek Chauvin would lead to firing

Jon Collins / MPR News — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 23:17:25 GMT

ST. PAUL -- Former Minneapolis officer J. Alexander Kueng told jurors at his federal trial Thursday he was still on rookie probation at the scene of George Floyd’s arrest in May 2020 and worried he could be fired if he displeased Derek Chauvin, his senior officer.

On the stand in his own defense, Kueng said he tried to act as a conduit between Chauvin and then-officer Thomas Lane, who asked repeatedly whether Floyd should be turned on his side. Kueng, though, admitted he never asked Chauvin to turn Floyd over himself but echoed Chauvin’s response to “just leave him.”

Asked why he didn’t tell two superiors later about Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck after the incident, Kueng said, “It’s not my duty to report another officer’s perspective.”

Kueng and ex-officers Lane and Tou Thao are federally charged with failing to provide Floyd medical aid. Thao and Kueng are also charged with failing to intervene with their colleague Chauvin’s use of force on Floyd.

Chauvin was found guilty in April on state charges of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s killing. Bystander video showed Chauvin keeping his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the man lay handcuffed and face down on the pavement, pleading that he couldn’t breathe.

Deference to a ‘senior officer’

In court Thursday, Kueng’s attorney Thomas Plunkett continued to criticize the Minneapolis Police Department’s training policies, entering Kueng’s probationary officer skills checklist into evidence. Kueng testified that he handed the checklist to his field training officer, who checked all the boxes and turned it in: “no review.”

After Kueng wrapped up his testimony Thursday, a defense use-of-force witness took the stand to say the force the officers used and the restraint of Floyd on the ground were in line with contemporary policing practices.

Steve Ijames said continued restraint was “more than was reasonably necessary, but that he’d expect a rookie officer to defer to assume that the senior officer on scene wasn’t providing aid for a good reason. ”An officer with one and a half patrol shifts under his belt is going to defer to a senior officer.”

At points during the cross examination, Ijames appeared to undercut defense arguments.

He admitted under testimony that Kueng could have repositioned Floyd so he could breathe, told Chauvin to reposition Floyd or try to find Floyd’s pulse in his neck but did not.

Prosecutor Manda Sertich asked whether officers are relieved of the duty to intervene if another officer takes over the scene. Ijames said that was right as long as the officer perceived the use of force.

The defense, and Kueng’s testimony, characterized bystanders at the scene as a potential threat. But under prosecution questioning, Ijames said he didn’t see any reason it would be inappropriate for CPR to have been performed at that scene.

‘Trusted his advice’

During testimony Wednesday, Kueng said the call initially that ended in Floyd’s killing didn’t seem serious. Kueng and Lane decided to put Floyd in the squad while they continued to investigate because he “had some erratic behaviors,” Kueng said.

“An individual that is that physically imposing, it can be beneficial to just put them in the squad, so the threat is as neutralized as it could be,” Kueng said.

He testified that he’s "never been involved in a struggle like with Floyd" and felt like at any time Floyd could just "shake him off."

After the officers took Floyd to the ground, Kueng said he used his knees to hold down Floyd’s buttocks and leg. He testified that he “fluctuated” how much force he was exerting based on how much Floyd was moving. He said he wasn’t initially aware of Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck or back, but was focused on keeping his balance on Floyd and “monitoring Floyd’s breathing.”

Chauvin was his senior officer, and he “trusted his advice” about scene safety and Chauvin’s decision to not put Floyd on his side. Kueng said his medical training was that the person in control of a medical situation is the person at the head of a body.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Manda Sertich, Kueng testified that he received training on police officers’ obligations to provide medical aid to people in their custody and the requirement to use only proportional force on people.

Kueng said, “if you have someone in handcuffs who is compliant, you are able to keep hold of them for their own safety.” But he admitted that there’s no need to use force on someone who is unconscious.

Kueng also told the prosecutor that he had “tunnel vision” while restraining Floyd, and wasn’t aware of what Chauvin was doing or how his knee was positioned.

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Derek Chauvin's ex-colleagues face trial over deadly Minneapolis arrest

Jonathan Allen / Reuters — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 13:14:14 GMT

ST. PAUL — A jury was due to hear opening statements on Monday in the federal civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who took part in the deadly arrest of George Floyd.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are charged with violating Floyd's civil rights during the arrest of the handcuffed Black man on a road outside a Minneapolis grocery store in May 2020, video of which sparked street protests against racism and police brutality around the world.

Last year, their former colleague Derek Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death at the end of a nationally televised state trial in April 2021, and a Minnesota judge sentenced him to 22-1/2 years in prison.

Chauvin, who is white, was also charged alongside his colleagues by federal prosecutors with violating Floyd's civil rights "under color of law," or in their capacity as police officers. Chauvin changed his plea to guilty last December. Thao, Kueng and Lane, who could face years in prison if convicted, have all pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division will seek to convince the jury the men "willfully failed to aid Floyd" as he fell unconscious beneath Chauvin's knee. The indictment says a person under arrest has a right to "be free from a police officer's deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs."

Thao and Kueng face an additional count in the indictment, which says they "wilfully failed" to stop Chauvin using excessive force against a prone, handcuffed Floyd, violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure.

Thao had worked for the Minneapolis Police Department for eight years. Lane and Kueng, who helped restrain Floyd's lower body, had joined only a few months prior to the arrest, and Chauvin was their field training officer, something their defense lawyers are expected to emphasize.

After the federal trial, the three men still face a state trial for aiding and abetting the murder of Floyd.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen Editing by Chris Reese)

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