MINNEAPOLIS — Testimony in the federal civil rights trial of three ex-Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd continued into its second day Tuesday as jurors viewed more body camera footage of Floyd's final moments.
FBI forensic media examiner Kimberly Meline resumed her testimony with body camera footage from J. Alexander Kueng, one of the officers on scene. The footage shows the moment Floyd was approached and led across the street to when he was pinned to the ground, pleading: "Mama, Mama, Mama." And then, "I can't breathe. Mama, I love you."
The footage was previously shown during the state trial of Derek Chauvin, who pleaded guilty in December to federal civil rights charges and is now serving a 22½-year state sentence after being convicted in Hennepin County District Court of murder for kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes while detaining him on the pavement at 38th and Chicago.
The testimony followed opening statements Monday, in which Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Trepel described how Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and Kueng ignored obvious signs of grave distress in Floyd, whom they'd taken into custody. They continued to neglect their training and legal obligation to render medical aid as the window to save Floyd's life "slammed shut," Trepel said.
The opening statements offered for the first time a window into the defense strategy, and a revelation that at least Lane plans to testify. In three separate introductory remarks, the defense attorneys described a hectic and at times scary situation in which the officers encountered a towering, erratic suspect who resisted their commands.
Earl Gray, the attorney for Lane, said his client intends to testify as to how the officers found themselves in a "scary" situation when Floyd reached around in the console of his vehicle for what they feared could be a gun. Gray described Floyd as 6 foot 4, 225 pounds and physically combative. "He was all muscle," Gray said.
He said Lane tried to revive Floyd and raised the prospect of turning him on his side as Chauvin stayed on his neck. He described Lane as "not deliberatively indifferent about his health at all."
Concluding his comments, Gray called the state's case against Lane a "perversion of justice."
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