ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights “chose to do nothing” as a fellow officer squeezed the lif…
By STEVE KARNOWSKI, TAMMY WEBBER and AMY FORLITI
Prosecutors sought to show during the monthlong trial that the officers violated their training, including when they failed to roll Floyd onto his side or give him CPR. Prosecutors have argued that Floyd’s condition was so serious that even bystanders without basic medical training could see he needed help. But the defense said the Minneapolis Police Department’s training was inadequate and that the officers deferred to Chauvin as the senior officer at the scene.
And Lane voiced concerns that showed he knew Floyd was in distress but “did nothing to give Mr. Floyd the medical aid he knew Mr. Floyd so desperately needed,” the prosecutor said. Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, said police weren’t adequately trained on the duty to intervene and that Chauvin was in charge. He also said Kueng looked up to Chauvin, his former field training officer, and “relied on this person’s experience.”
The charges include language that the officers “willfully” deprived Floyd of his constitutional rights. That means jurors must find that officers acted “with a bad purpose or improper motive to disobey or disregard the law,” Paule said. She pointed to the 2 1/2 “precious minutes” after Floyd became unresponsive and before paramedics got there.Sertich contrasted the officers’ inaction with the desperate cries of bystanders pleading with them to get off Floyd and to check for a pulse: “Even though they had no power, no authority, no obligation, they knew they had to do something.”
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