MINNEAPOLIS — The last remaining defendant facing state charges for the death of George Floyd will learn his fate within the next 90 days after attorneys filed their closing arguments in a stipulated facts trial.
Former Minneapolis Police officer Tou Thao opted to forego a jury trial and let Judge Peter Cahill decide his guilt or innocence for the charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Thao's co-defendants, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng, both pleaded guilty to that charge. Lane received a three-year sentence and Kueng received three-and-a-half years.
Thao is already serving three-and-a-half years in federal prison after a jury convicted him of depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights.
In their closing argument, Thao's attorney Robert Paule wrote:
"The death of George Floyd was a tragedy. Yet the fact that a tragic death occurred does not transfer it into a criminal act. Thao is innocent of the charges against him because he did not intend that his specific actions were done to assist in the commission of a crime. Every one of Thao’s actions was done based upon the training he received from the Minneapolis Police Department. These actions were taken because Thao reasonably believed that Floyd was experiencing excited delirium, and were done with the intention of saving Floyd’s life. Rightly or wrongly, this was his intention at the time, and it was reasonably based upon the situation he was in at the time."
In the state's closing argument, prosecutor Matthew Frank wrote:
"Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away. Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death. Thao held back the concerned onlookers, and even prevented an off-duty firefighter from rendering the very medical aid Floyd so desperately needed. Perhaps worse, Thao directly insisted upon continuing the restraint that killed Floyd. At one point, Thao even retrieved a device called a “hobble.” If properly employed, that hobble would have saved Floyd’s life. But Thao encouraged the other officers not to use the hobble and to instead “hold on” and continue pressing Floyd into the pavement. Thao’s reason? 'If we hobble him, the sergeant is going to have to come out' and do paperwork. The short of it: Tou Thao did not want to follow the proper protocol, and George Floyd died."
Judge Cahill has 90 days — the end of April — to issue a verdict.
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