Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

What happened to the other officers arrested over George Floyd death?

Three former police officers who responded to George Floyd call now face trial in August

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Wednesday 21 April 2021 20:45 BST
Comments
‘What’s right is right’: Minnesota crowd reacts to Chauvin verdict

When a jury in Minnesota convicted Derek Chauvin of the murder of George Floyd a year after his killing was caught on camera, his family said they would finally be able to get some sleep.

But the conviction of Chauvin has not brought an end to the criminal case surrounding Mr Floyd’s death.

Now attention turns to the coming trial of the three other police officers who were present when Mr Floyd died following his arrest in the city last year.

Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death, and he will be sentenced in eight weeks time.

When the jury’s guilty verdicts were read out in the Minneapolis court room on Tuesday, Chauvin became the first white police officer ever convicted of the murder of a Black person in the state.

Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American, was the first police officer in the state convicted of murder for the shooting death of white woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

Noor received 12.5 years in prison after being convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter and the city of Minneapolis settled a civil lawsuit with her family for $20 million.

Now former Minneapolis police officers Tou Thao, 35, Thomas Lane, 38, and J Alexander Kueng, 27, all face charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin in second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd.

The state’s attorney general’s office will try and add a third-degree murder charge against all three officers in a Minnesota Court of Appeals hearing set for 20 May.

They are set to face trial on 23 August after a judge separated their trial from Chauvin’s because of Covid-19 concerns.

The three officers, who responded to the call on 25 May 2020, could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of aiding and abetting murder.

But sentencing guidelines can also reduce that sentence to a maximum of 15 years.

All three former officers remain free on $750,000 bail.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in