One plea, one alternate approach avert trial over Floyd’s death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP):

Another long and painful trial over the killing of George Floyd was averted on Monday after one former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty to manslaughter and another agreed to take a more uncommon approach and let a judge decide his fate based on the evidence in the case.

J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao had been set to stand trial on Monday on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter in the May 25, 2020, killing of Floyd, who died after another officer kneeled on his neck, sparking worldwide protests as part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.

Instead, Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in exchange for the murder count against him being dismissed. Kueng is the second officer to plead guilty to the state charge; Thomas Lane pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Thao, who previously told the judge that it “would be lying” to plead guilty, said on Monday that he would proceed with a stipulated evidence trial on the count of aiding and abetting manslaughter. The two sides will work out agreed-upon evidence against Thao and prepare written closing arguments. They will submit those to Judge Peter Cahill to decide whether Thao is guilty. If he’s convicted, the murder count – which carries a presumptive sentence of 121/2 years in prison – will be dropped.

By taking that approach, Thao waives his right to a jury trial, as well as his right to cross-examine the state’s witnesses, call witnesses of his own and testify. But he preserves his right to appeal.

His attorney, Bob Paule, told AP that this allows Thao to still litigate the issue of his guilt or innocence, and “it’s ultimately up to the judge to decide whether this really constitutes aiding and abetting”.

Legal experts say the approach is uncommon in a case like this and could benefit both sides.

“The stipulated bench trial allows him to maintain his innocence and to blame the court if he gets found guilty, rather than make any admissions himself,” said Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St Thomas School of Law. “On the state’s part, they also don’t want to go to trial. They are exhausted, their witnesses are exhausted. ... They potentially get what they want, which is just a conviction and concurrent prison time, which is all they were looking for.”

Floyd, 46, died after former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the pavement for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and eventually grew still. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back during the restraint, which was captured on video.

Chauvin was convicted of state murder and manslaughter charges last year and Kueng, Lane and Thao were convicted of federal charges in February.

Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the state cases, said in a statement that he hopes Keung’s plea can bring comfort to Floyd’s family and “bring our communities closer to a new era of accountability and justice”. He also said his office is looking forward to a swift resolution of Thao’s case.

As part of his plea agreement, Kueng admitted that he held Floyd’s torso, that he knew from his experience and training that restraining a handcuffed person in a prone position created a substantial risk, and that the restraint of Floyd was unreasonable under the circumstances.

Kueng agreed to a sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison, to be served at the same time as his federal sentence and in federal custody. He will be formally sentenced later and was being returned to federal custody — he has been at a prison in Ohio since early October.