Timeline Of Cases Against Ex-Cops In George Floyd's Death
Justice For George Floyd: A Timeline Of Cases Against The Ex-Cops Involved In His Death
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Source: Handout / Getty
Thomas Lane, one of the three ex-Minneapolis Police officers who accompanied Derek Chauvin during the killing of George Floyd was sentenced to three years in state prison for aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Lane, who began his 2.5-year federal sentence last month for violating Floyd’s civil rights, agreed to a plea agreement earlier this year and will serve his state sentence concurrently with his federal. During the sentencing hearing, Lane did not address the court. Prosecutors did however take the opportunity to read an impact statement on behalf of the Floyd family.
“We want everyone here today to know we will never move on. You will always show up for George Floyd, but never move on,” read the prosecutor.
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In August, former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng rejected their plea deals from the state. Both men will stand trial in October. They both were also convicted on federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Tou Thao was sentenced to serve 42 months in prison and J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced to serve 36.
During their federal trial, an off-duty firefighter and a Paramedic both testified for the prosecution in the federal case against three former police officers who assisted Derek Chauvin. Both witnesses testified in the Derek Chauvin trial as well.
Minneapolis firefighter, Genevieve Hansen, took the stand and testified that she witnessed Floyd’s head under the knee of Chauvin as other officers helped hold him down. The sight of Floyd struggling to breathe made Hansen angry enough to get loud with the officers. “It was just alarming, the amount of people that were on top of one person not moving and handcuffed,” said Hansen during testimony. “[Floyd] needed help and he wasn’t getting it.” Hansen also testified that she asked former officer Thao to check if Floyd had a pulse, but Thao ignored the request and instead told her if she was a firefighter then she knew better than to get involved. Paramedic Derek Smith testified that as he arrived on the scene, he was never told Floyd wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. When Smith arrived on the scene he recalled not being able to find a pulse in Floyd’s neck and that he was probably deceased. Smith also testified that Floyd should have been given CPR as soon as possible and officers didn’t call in critical information that could have saved Floyd’s life.“I knew something bad was going to happen to Mr. Floyd,” McMillian testified.
“What did you mean by that?” prosecutor Allen Slaughter asked.
“That he was gonna die,” McMillian responded.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that defendant Lane plans to take the stand later in the trial. The transcript from bodycam footage from Floyd’s murder scene shows that Lane was super aggressive toward Floyd despite the nonviolent nature of the alleged offense of using a counterfeit bill at a convenience store. Those developments followed opening arguments on Monday in which the prosecution and defense presented their cases to the mostly white jury that was selected last week. The defense’s strategy is clear: Place all the blame squarely on the shoulders of Chauvin, who was the senior officer on the scene that fateful day on May 25, 2020, when the defendants allegedly violated Floyd’s civil rights by aiding and abetting and failing to stop the now-convicted murderer from using lethal force with his knee to the handcuffed Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. According to the Associated Press, one of the defense attorneys said that Chauvin called “all of the shots” during the encounter with Floyd. The defense also sought to convince jurors that the three defendants were not properly trained by the Minneapolis Police Department and did not know they were supposed to intervene.
A community activist holds a placard during a press conference outside the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 20, 2022, for the jury selection of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in George Floyd’s death. | Source: KEREM YUCEL / Getty
Chauvin’s state trial
On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was unanimously found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for killing Floyd. He was immediately handcuffed and remanded to prison from the courtroom following the reading of the verdict.
Derek Chauvin. | Source: Handout / Getty

Source: KEREM YUCEL / Getty

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office is prosecuting Derek Chauvin’s murder trial. | Source: Scott Olson / Getty
1. July, 27, 2022
2. Jan. 24, 2022

Testimony was set to begin on Jan. 24 in the federal case of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in George Floyd’s death. The trial begins days after a mostly white jury was selected.
Pictured: A community activist holds a placard during a press conference outside the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 20, 2022, during jury selection.
3. Dec. 13
Derek Chauvin officially pleaded guilty to a pair of federal civil rights charges stemming from his murder of George Floyd and another incident in which the former Minneapolis police officer injured a Black teenager.
Previously, Chauvin — who was found guilty and convicted in April of murdering Floyd by kneeling on the unarmed, handcuffed Black man’s neck for nearly nine minutes last year — had implausibly maintained his innocence in that case and was seemingly set to do the same in the federal case before he likely realized it was only a matter of time before a different jury found him guilty, as well.
The Department of Justice announced Chauvin’s guilty plea in an email sent to NewsOne.
“Defendant Chauvin has pleaded guilty to two federal civil rights violations, one of which led to the tragic loss of George Floyd’s life,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a brief statement. “While recognizing that nothing can repair the harm caused by such acts, the Justice Department is committed to holding accountable those who violate the Constitution, and to safeguarding the civil rights of all Americans.”
Chauvin also pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of a Black 14-year-old boy who was violently restrained by the throat while being assaulted in the head with a flashlight in 2017.
4. June 25 – Chauvin is sentenced
Derek Chauvin’s longshot request for a new trial was denied ahead of his prison sentencing of 22.5 years. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill delivered the sentence after members of George Floyd’s family and prosecutors appealed for the convicted murderer to get considerably more prison time than state guidelines advise.
Deciding against adjudicating the two lesser charges that Chauvin was facing, Cahill said the one count of unintentional second-degree murder for which he was sentencing included 10 additional years for aggravating factors, including employing “particular cruelty.”
Arguing that Chauvin’s crime is “more serious than the typical second-degree unintentional murder,” prosecutors asked for Cahill to sentence the former police officer to 360 months, which equals 30 years.
Chauvin, who did not testify at his trial, broke his silence ahead of his sentencing and briefly addressed the court with a statement that offered his “condolences” to the Floyd family before he added cryptically, “There’s gonna be some other information in the future that will be of interest and I hope things will give you some peace of mind.”
5. May 4
More than a week after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, the convicted former Minneapolis police officer filed a motion for a new trial and alleged there was jury misconduct. Chauvin’s lawyer claims the defense was denied the right to a change in venue despite pre-trial publicity that affected the ability to have a fair trial.
The motion was filed on Monday and followed reports that the only juror who has spoken publicly about the trial may have lied during jury selection.
The juror, Brandon Mitchell, made the media rounds last week to discuss his experience serving during the murder trial. But now he’s found himself on the defense following reports that he participated in an anti-police brutality march last summer that was inspired in part by Floyd’s death.
All of that came on the heels of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announcing the launch of a Justice Department probe into the Minneapolis Police Department.
6. May 3
7. April 28
8. April 21
The investigation echoes similar steps taken after Michael Brown‘s killing in Ferguson, Missouri, after the DOJ declined to charge his accused murderer, Officer Darren Wilson.
Garland’s announcement detailed the lengths of the investigation, which will examine police practices, especially involving excessive use of force, and whether or not the department participates in discriminatory practices, along with probing misconduct allegations.
The DOJ has already launched an investigation into George Floyd‘s murder to determine if his civil rights were violated. It is unclear if the new probe will look at the department prior to Floyd’s death or while the case was ongoing.
9. April 20 – Guilty
On April 20, Chauvin was unanimously found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing Floyd. He was immediately handcuffed and remanded to prison from the courtroom following the reading of the verdict.
The jury took about 10 and a half hours to reach a verdict since beginning deliberations following closing arguments from the prosecution and the defense.
Prior to Cahill reading the jury their deliberations instructions, prosecutor Steve Schleicher strategically supplemented his closing remarks with video footage of Floyd’s death that emphasized Chauvin’s refusal to stop kneeling while cavalierly putting his hands in his own pockets.
“This case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first,” prosecutor Steve Schleicher told the jury, referring to the viral video showing Floyd’s death on Memorial Day last year. “It’s exactly what you saw with your eyes. … It’s what you felt with your gut. It’s what you now know in your heart. This wasn’t policing. This was murder.”
10. April 19
The defense and prosecution officially rested their cases after Chauvin spoke for the first time during the trial to officially decline the opportunity to testify in his own defense. That prompted the prosecution to re-examine one of its star witnesses — pulmonologist Dr. Martin Tobin — in an effort to further discredit unproven theories offered up one day earlier by pathologist Dr. David Fowler testifying for the defense about Floyd’s cause of death.
11. April 18

People raise their fist during a demonstration near the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis.
12. April 17

13. April 16

Members of the National Guard have been patrolling Minneapolis since the trial began and ahead of the verdict.
14. April 15

George Floyd’s family joins Ben Crump during a press conference at New Salem Missionary Church in Minneapolis after the prosecution and defense rested their cases. Crump was bringing attention to the recent police shooting of Daunte Wright in the nearby Brooklyn Center. Wright was killed when a police officer claimed she fired her gun by mistake and meant to shoot her Taser instead. Al because of a traffic stop for a nonviolent allegation.
15. April 14
16. April 13
17. April 13
18. April 13
19. April 13
20. April 12
21. April 12
22. April 12
23. April 12
24. April 9
25. April 9
26. April 9
27. April 9
28. April 8
29. April 8
30. April 8
31. April 8
32. April 7
33. April 6
34. April 5
35. April 5
36. April 1
37. April 1
38. April 1
39. April 1
40. March 31
41. March 31
42. March 30
43. March 30
44. March 30
45. March 30
46. March 29
47. March 29
48. March 29
49. March 29
50. March 28

Attorney Ben Crump, flanked by Rev. Al Sharpton and the Family of George Floyd, speaks during a press conference demanding justice in the upcoming trial in Minneapolis.
51. March 28

Demonstrators hold signs honoring George Floyd and other victims of racism and police violence as they gather during a protest outside Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
52. March 28

Police and National Guard troops stand watch outside of the Hennepin County Government Center while activists march past in Minneapolis.
53. March 28

Plywood covers a building across from the Hennepin County Government Center in preparation for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.
54. March 25

People walk through the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, also known as George Floyd Square, as the sun sets in Minneapolis.
55. March 22 – all jurors selected
56. March 19
57. March 17
58. March 15
59. March 11
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill reinstates the third-degree murder charges he previously dropped. The addition increases the likelihood of a conviction.
60. March 8

Bridgett Floyd (L), the sister of George Floyd, looks on as Jacari Harris, executive director of the George Floyd Foundation, speaks during a press conference outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
61. March 8

People march during a demonstration in honor of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
62. March 8

People gather in a Manhattan park to protest on the first day of the trial for the killing of George Floyd, in New York City.
63. March 8

Demonstrators hold a vigil in honor of George Floyd in Atlanta.
64. March 7

Demonstrators kneel at an intersection as the names of people killed by police are listed off during a march in honor of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
65. March 7

A law enforcement officer stands with members of the National Guard outside the Hennepin County Government Center surrounded by fencing in Minneapolis.
66. March 7

St. Paul Public Schools Board Member Chauntyll Allen speaks to the crowd after they returned to the Hennepin County Government Center during a silent march in memory of George Floyd a day before jury selection for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin begins in Minneapolis.
67. March 7

Protesters march through the city during a silent march in memory of George Floyd a day before jury selection for the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin begins in Minneapolis.
68. March 7

Protesters carry a fake casket during a silent march in memory of George Floyd a day before jury selection for the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin begins in Minneapolis.
69. March 7

A demonstrator carries a rifle during the “I Cant Breathe – Silent March for Justice” protest in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
70. March 7

Demonstrators participate in the “I Cant Breathe – Silent March for Justice” protest in front of the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis.
71. March 6

People visit George Floyd Square, the memorial created around the site where he was killed in Minneapolis.
72. March 6

Gianna Floyd, daughter of George Floyd, stands next to a podium during a news conference in downtown Houston.
73. March 6

LaTonya Floyd, sister of George Floyd, wipes tears from her eyes after speaking at a news conference in downtown Houston.
74. March 6

Chaz Neal, a Redwing community activist, holds a sign with George Floyd’s picture on it outside the Minnesota Governor’s residence during a protest in St.Paul, Minnesota.
75. March 3

Workers install security fencing at the Hennepin County Government Headquarters in Minneapolis. Security measures are being increased and more police and National Guard soldiers are expected in downtown Minneapolis before jury selection begins at former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in the death of George Floyd.
Justice For George Floyd: A Timeline Of Cases Against The Ex-Cops Involved In His Death was originally published on newsone.com
