Three former Minneapolis police officers who participated in the call that led to the death of George Floyd will not be offered plea deals from federal prosecutors charging them with violating Floyd’s civil rights, ABC News reports.
Federal prosecutor LeeAnn Bell told the court during a hearing Wednesday that the defendants had rejected an earlier approach from the government relating to a pre-trial plea deal, and prosecutors do not intend to offer another deal.
J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao face federal civil rights charges in relation to the murder of Floyd by fellow former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of three murder charges last year. The three stood by while Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and they refused to provide medical assistance to Floyd.
.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson also rejected a motion by defense attorneys to bar the testimony from a 10-year-old girl who witnessed the murder, saying that the girl’s testimony would lead to undue influence in the jury’s decision. In Chauvin’s criminal trial, the girl had testified, “I was sad and kind of mad. Because it felt like [Chauvin] was stopping [Floyd’s] breathing, and it was kind of, like, hurting him.”