2nd officer in George Floyd death asks for a dismissal

A second Minneapolis officer, Tou Thao, has asked for a dismissal of the case against him.

Tou Thao’s defense attorney Robert Paule filed a motion Wednesday asking for the aiding and abetting manslaughter charges against him to be dismissed. Paule argues that the State has the burden of showing that Thao “knew former officer Derek Chauvin and others were going to commit a crime and … intended his presence or actions to further the commission of that crime,” KARE 11 reported, which would establish probable cause.

Former officer Thao, like former officer Thomas Lane, says their bodycam footage will show they were not aware that this was a murder. He said the footage proves there is no probable cause.

Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, also a former Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for several minutes on May 25. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter.

Earlier in July, Lane’s attorney Earl Gray argued that there isn’t probable cause to charge his client and that all of the evidence exonerates his client, making a trial against Lane not “fair or reasonable.”

TRANSCRIPT OF LANE’S (AND OFFICER KEUNG’S) BODYCAM FOOTAGE

Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Keung, and Tou Thao are all charged as accessories in the death/murder of Mr. Floyd.

The transcript below begins as Thomas Lane and his partner J. Alexander Keung speak with an employee at Cup Foods about a possible counterfeit $20 bill. The transcript concludes as Lane jumps out of the ambulance carrying Floyd to Hennepin County Medical Center.

Lane only finished his training five days before the death of George Floyd.

In an interview with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Lane told investigators that he was “going off Officer Chauvin’s experience and what he was saying” as a 20-year veteran, and that throughout the training process, you trust your senior officers and “follow their lead.” He said that while training, he hadn’t been allowed to directly question his training officers.

As officer Derek Chauvin had Floyd pinned under his knee, facedown against the pavement and complaining that he could not breathe, Lane, who was holding Floyd’s legs, asked Chauvin whether the suspect should be moved.

Floyd: My face is getting it bad.

Lane: Here, should we get his legs up, or is this good?

Chauvin: Leave him.

And, again, as Floyd is heard speaking for the last time:

Floyd: Ah! Ah! Please. Please. Please.

Lane: Should we roll him on his side?

Chauvin: No, he’s staying put where we got him.

Lane: OK. I just worry about the excited delirium or whatever.

Chauvin: Well that’s why we have the ambulance coming.

Lane: OK, I suppose.

Shortly after that exchange someone in the crowd gathered nearby notices that Floyd isn’t breathing. The officers subsequently confirm that he’s nonresponsive.

Earlier in the transcript, the officers pleaded with Floyd to put his hands up, but the suspect repeatedly expresses concern about getting shot. The officers also order him into a squad car but Floyd refuses, saying he is claustrophobic and would rather be restrained on the pavement. The transcript has officers discussing whether Floyd is under the influence of drugs.

Exhibit 407072020 by Johannah Winter on Scribd

READ THE MEMO TO DISMISS LANE’S CHARGES ON THIS LINK

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