One of four Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death is asking to have his case dismissed.
An attorney for Thomas Lane said in court papers made public Wednesday that the case against his client should be dismissed for lack of probable cause. As part of his court filing, attorney Earl Gray filed transcripts from body camera footage recorded by Lane’s camera and the camera of his partner, J. Kueng.
Gray also filed a transcript of Lane’s interview with state investigators.
Floyd, a Black handcuffed man, died on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly 8 minutes and held it there even after Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and stopped moving.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Lane was holding Floyd’s legs at the time, Kueng was holding Floyd’s back and Thao was managing nearby bystanders. All four officers were fired.
Gray said in his court filing that Lane asked twice if the officers should turn Floyd on his side, and Chauvin said no.
All four officers were fired.
(AP)
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2 Responses
Gray said in his court filing that Lane asked twice if the officers should turn Floyd on his side, and Chauvin said no…….. what a tzadik
Yes, he’s a tzadik, which just means innocent. He was not in charge. It was Chauvin’s decision whether to turn Floyd over, and he decided against it. End of story.
Chauvin’s decision was also reasonable and easily defensible, but that’s irrelevant as far as Lane is concerned. Even if the decision was wrong he is not in any way at fault.