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The indictment handed up by the federal grand jury in Minnesota names as offenders all 4 Minneapolis police officers who were involved when George Floyd was eliminated in Might 2020. However not all counts used to all of the defendants, who were fired soon after the killing.Derek Chauvin– the veteran officer who kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and was convicted of second-degree murder in April– pleaded guilty in December to the federal charges against him. He was the only offender called in Count 1 of the indictment, so that count is not at issue in the trial.The other 3 former officers– Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane– are being attempted in federal court in
Minneapolis on the indictment’s two staying counts. Their state trial has actually been put off till after the federal trial has concluded.Here is a guide to understanding the charges.
Deprivation of rights under color of law.Each count in the indictment involves a variation of the exact same federal offense: denying Mr. Floyd of constitutionally secured rights “under color of law.
“An area of the U.S. Code that has been on the books in various forms for more than a century makes it a criminal offense for any federal government authorities, consisting of a law enforcement officer, to willfully deprive anyone of rights” secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States” while carrying out main responsibilities or claiming or pretending to do so. Failure to intervene.Applies to Mr. Thao and Mr. Kueng.One count is grounded in the 4th Modification’s guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.It accuses Mr. Thao and Mr. Kueng of willfully stopping working to intervene when they knew Mr. Chauvin was using unreasonable force in limiting Mr. Floyd, continuing
to kneel on his neck even after
Mr. Floyd ended up being unresponsive.Mr. Lane is not charged in this count, obviously because he spoke out during the encounter to recommend
that Mr. Floyd be rearranged so he could breathe. Failure to render assistance.Applies to Mr. Thao, Mr. Kueng and Mr. Lane.The other count is grounded in the Fifth Change, implicating the defendants of depriving Mr. Floyd of liberty without due process. The specific liberty it points out is an arrested individual’s”right to be devoid of a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his major medical needs.” The officers are implicated
of willfully failing to aid Mr. Floyd even though
they understood that he was lying on the ground in clear requirement of medical care and at substantial danger of harm.Mr. Chauvin was likewise called in this count, and has pleaded guilty. Vast array of possible sentences.The federal statute requires punishing each offense with a fine, a prison term or both, with intensifying optimal sentences depending upon whether physical injury or other aggravating factors
were involved.In this case, the indictment defines that the offenses led to bodily injury and death for Mr. Floyd. Under the statute, that would theoretically unlock to any sentence approximately and consisting of
death or life in prison.But prosecutors are not expected to look for a sentence quite that serious if they secure convictions in this case. ForMr. Chauvin, who pleaded guilty to two counts
, they have actually recommended a sentence of 300 months, or 25 years.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/24/us/police-officers-trial-george-floyd