Former officers involved in George Floyd's death due to appear in court
Minneapolis police union distances themselves from Derek Chauvin; Matt Finn reports.
Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him for his alleged involvement in the death of George Floyd, according to reports.
Kueng is one of three former officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Kueng and his fellow rookie officer Thomas Lane are said to have helped senior officer Derek Chauvin hold Floyd down just before his death, while senior officer Tou Thao performed crowd control duty, reports said.
In the motion to dismiss, Thomas Plunkett, the attorney for Kueng, argued that the case does not establish probable cause to support the charges. He claimed the junior officer had no reason to question his superior’s judgment in restraining Floyd, Courthouse News Service reported.
MINNEAPOLIS SEES NEARLY 80 ARRESTED OVERNIGHT, MOST FOR CURFEW VIOLATIONS, AFTER UNREST
“There is no evidence that Kueng knew Chauvin was going to commit a crime at the time,” Plunkett wrote. “When asked by Lane if they should roll Floyd onto his stomach to avoid excited delirium, Chauvin said they should not, twice... Chauvin, based on his assessment at the time, believed he was using reasonable force against a suspect, who was high and had resisted arrest.”
“Kueng could not intentionally aid and abet an act that he did not know was criminal.”
This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office in Minnesota on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, shows Derek Chauvin, from left, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after being restrained by him and the other Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Kueng, Lane and Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting Chauvin. Video from the body cameras of two officers charged in the death of Floyd is being made available for public viewing by appointment on Wednesday, July 15 but a judge has so far declined to allow news media organizations to publish the footage for wider distribution. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
Former officers Lane and Thao also filed an order to dismiss. Thao argued that he merely performed crowd control duties, describing himself as a “human traffic cone” as he held back onlookers, The New York Times reported.
VIRGINIA SENATE ADVANCES BILL TO DOWNGRADE CHARGE FOR ASSAULTING POLICE, END MANDATORY JAIL TERM
Plunkett additionally filed for a change of venue to outside the Minneapolis metro area. The motion claims “potentially prejudicial material has been disseminated publically by the prosecution, creating a reasonable likelihood that a fair trial in the metro area cannot be had."
Conversations about the press coverage of the trial arose around the release of body cam footage, which was ultimately released publicly following a leak by The Daily Mail and requests from the attorneys for the officers.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The prosecution in the case is led by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who filed a motion seeking to combine the cases into one trial, KARE 11 reported.
The motion will be considered on Sept. 11, the same date that Thao's motion to dismiss will be heard.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
