[George Floyd]
Benjamin Crump: “The world saw what happened and so who are you going to believe? Your eyes or these killer cops?”
Photo: YouTube
The domestic killer-cop terrorists above who murdered George Floyd today asked for separate trials
Minneapolis prosecutors argued Friday that the four ex-cops charged in George Floyd’s death should face a single jury after participating in the May 25 incident “together”—but their lawyers argued a collective trial would be against the “interest of justice” in the latest indication the men are turning on each other.
During a court appearance, attorneys for Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas K. Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng argued each of their clients should get their own trial, highlighting the media scrutiny of the case and the differing roles each played in the tragic arrest.
In filings prior to Friday’s hearing, each officer pointed a finger at the other. Attorneys for Lane and Kueng argued they were only following Chauvin’s lead—while Chauvin’s lawyer argued Floyd would be alive if the rookie cops had called an ambulance sooner or “chosen to de-escalate instead of struggle.”
Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule, claimed Friday “there are going to be side attacks” if all four officers face a trial together, and stressed that the men are already facing an uphill battle due to publicity of the case.
“I’ve never had a case where the prosecution announces on TV my client is guilty,” Paule said.
Special Attorney for the State Neal Katyal, however, argued separate trials would “delay justice for months, if not years,” and would be “traumatizing” for witnesses who would have to testify multiple times.
“The community should not be put through the trauma of four separate verdict days,” Katyal said, adding that the defenses posed by the officers are not “antagonistic.”
Referring to the multiple gut-wrenching videos of Floyd’s arrest, Katyal added: “I’ve seen a lot in my life, I can barely watch these videos.”
Later in the hearing, the prosecutor slammed an expected defense argument that Floyd, who had fentanyl in his system, overdosed during the arrest, sarcastically stating that attorneys believe Floyd took “just the right amount to overdose the exact moment when the officer’s knee was on his neck for 8 minutes.”
Outside court, Floyd’s family slammed the defense for “lying” and trying to “assassinate his character” by suggesting Floyd died from an overdose. “After what I heard in that courtroom, I’m angry,” one of Floyd’s brothers said. “The one thing I want is accountability.”
Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, added, “The only overdose that killed George Floyd was an overdose of excessive force and racism by the Minneapolis Police Department. The world saw what happened and so who are you going to believe? Your eyes or these killer cops?”
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