GUILTY MN - George Floyd, 46, killed in police custody, Minneapolis, 25 May 2020 #20

[Jax49]

George Floyd case: Federal grand jury indicts 4 ex-cops on charges they violated Floyd's civil rights

The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao. Specifically, Chauvin, Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care. Chauvin was also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the arrest and neck restraint of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

 

[BUF]

4 ex-cops indicted on US civil rights charges in Floyd death

The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao. Specifically, Chauvin, Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd's right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force. All four officers are charged for their failure to provide Floyd with medical care. Chauvin was also charged in a second indictment, stemming from the arrest and neck restraint of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Kueng appeared via videoconference in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Chauvin was not part of the court appearance.

 

[kittythehare]

@ZekeJMiller

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal grand jury indicts 4 former Minneapolis police officers on charges they violated George Floyd's civil rights.

Sweet!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Derek Chauvin, three other ex-Minneapolis police officers indicted by federal grand jury (nbcnews.com)

They're accused of violating the civil rights of George Floyd the day he was killed last year.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Derek Chauvin and three other former Minneapolis police officers on charges of violating George Floyd's civil rights during the arrest that led to his death last year.

Chauvin was convicted of murder last month by a Minneapolis jury that heard evidence that he put his knee on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds...

 

[sds71]

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned two indictments that were unsealed today. The first indictment charges former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38, with federal civil rights crimes for their roles in the death of George Perry Floyd Jr.
The three-count indictment alleges that all four defendants, while acting under color of law, willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Specifically, Count One of the indictment alleges that on May 25, 2020, Chauvin held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm, as George Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive. The indictment alleges that Chauvin’s actions violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer and resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
Count Two of the indictment charges that Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd. Finally, Count Three of the indictment alleges that all four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him. The indictment alleges that by doing so, all four defendants willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee’s right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The indictment alleges that this offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
A separate, two-count indictment also charges Chauvin with willfully depriving a Minneapolis resident who was then fourteen-years-old of the constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Count One of this indictment alleges that on Sept. 4, 2017, Chauvin, without legal justification, held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight. The indictment alleges that this offense included the use of a dangerous weapon—a flashlight—and resulted in bodily injury to the teenager. Count Two of the indictment charges that Chauvin held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.
Both indictments charge violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. 18 U.S.C. § 242 states that it is a crime for an official acting under color of law to willfully violate a person’s constitutional rights. If government employees, like police officers, use or misuse the power provided to them by their position, they are acting “under color of law.”
Four Former Minneapolis Police Officers Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges for Death of George Floyd; Derek Chauvin Also Charged in Separate Indictment for Violating Civil Rights of a Juvenile

Chauvin et al indictment
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1392451/download

Chauvin indictment
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1392446/download

@AndrewMannix
The four officers made a first appearance in federal court at 8 am. The U.S. District Court published the appearance on its calendar at 7:59 am, making it pretty impossible for any reporters to attend.

 

[Dotta]

Wow! Dura lex, sed lex! Bravo

 

[kittythehare]

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned two indictments that were unsealed today. The first indictment charges former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38, with federal civil rights crimes for their roles in the death of George Perry Floyd Jr.
The three-count indictment alleges that all four defendants, while acting under color of law, willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Specifically, Count One of the indictment alleges that on May 25, 2020, Chauvin held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm, as George Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive. The indictment alleges that Chauvin’s actions violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer and resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
Count Two of the indictment charges that Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd. Finally, Count Three of the indictment alleges that all four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him. The indictment alleges that by doing so, all four defendants willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee’s right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The indictment alleges that this offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
A separate, two-count indictment also charges Chauvin with willfully depriving a Minneapolis resident who was then fourteen-years-old of the constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Count One of this indictment alleges that on Sept. 4, 2017, Chauvin, without legal justification, held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight. The indictment alleges that this offense included the use of a dangerous weapon—a flashlight—and resulted in bodily injury to the teenager. Count Two of the indictment charges that Chauvin held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.
Both indictments charge violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. 18 U.S.C. § 242 states that it is a crime for an official acting under color of law to willfully violate a person’s constitutional rights. If government employees, like police officers, use or misuse the power provided to them by their position, they are acting “under color of law.”
Four Former Minneapolis Police Officers Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges for Death of George Floyd; Derek Chauvin Also Charged in Separate Indictment for Violating Civil Rights of a Juvenile

Chauvin et al indictment
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1392451/download

Chauvin indictment
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1392446/download

@AndrewMannix
The four officers made a first appearance in federal court at 8 am. The U.S. District Court published the appearance on its calendar at 7:59 am, making it pretty impossible for any reporters to attend.

This is what I love about the USA!
When they do it, they do it right. They do it fast and they do it with efficacy.
Goodbye DC... you will be a very old man before you ever get an opportunity to hurt another vulnerable human.
And that is justice to my eyes.
The prosecution was utterly superb.
This is the icing on the cake.
Hopefully it will make the next miscreant LE officer think twice before he abuses his badge, his code and his vows.
The whole world watched this happen.
It would be excellent if other countries took lessons.
How dare they!

 

[Dotta]

A time to rejoice in the justice that we see la la la. It's Justice time...

 

[dixiegirl1035]

@BetteDavisEyes thank you so very much for posting this on the breaking news thread that I follow as sometimes, I often shy away from an emotional case.

I'm on the verge of tears... welling up. Thank goodness. This case, and Aubrey case and so many others.... need to be brought to the fore.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

As a high profile federal case, it should have a link to such.

It won't be broadcast as with all fed cases, but should have a site link................


Looking for the site now.... cannot find....

brb within 60 minutes if I can find and do an ETA... but assume others are already on it and know how to navigate to find better than I. It's not on the US DOJ site??? (The above links by @sds71 are from DOJ.. but I cannot find the MAIN link)



"
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Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 7, 2021
Four Former Minneapolis Police Officers Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges for Death of George Floyd; Derek Chauvin Also Charged in Separate Indictment for Violating Civil Rights of a Juvenile
Note: A copy of the indictment against Chauvin et al. can be viewed here and the two count indictment against Chauvin can be viewed here.

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned two indictments that were unsealed today. The first indictment charges former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38, with federal civil rights crimes for their roles in the death of George Perry Floyd Jr.

The three-count indictment alleges that all four defendants, while acting under color of law, willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Specifically, Count One of the indictment alleges that on May 25, 2020, Chauvin held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm, as George Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive. The indictment alleges that Chauvin’s actions violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer and resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.

Count Two of the indictment charges that Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd. Finally, Count Three of the indictment alleges that all four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him. The indictment alleges that by doing so, all four defendants willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee’s right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The indictment alleges that this offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.

A separate, two-count indictment also charges Chauvin with willfully depriving a Minneapolis resident who was then fourteen-years-old of the constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Count One of this indictment alleges that on Sept. 4, 2017, Chauvin, without legal justification, held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight. The indictment alleges that this offense included the use of a dangerous weapon—a flashlight—and resulted in bodily injury to the teenager. Count Two of the indictment charges that Chauvin held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.

Both indictments charge violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. 18 U.S.C. § 242 states that it is a crime for an official acting under color of law to willfully violate a person’s constitutional rights. If government employees, like police officers, use or misuse the power provided to them by their position, they are acting “under color of law.”

An indictment is merely a formal accusation of criminal conduct. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The charges announced today are separate from the Justice Department’s civil pattern or practice investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department that the Attorney General announced on April 21. The charges announced today are criminal, while the pattern or practice investigation is a civil investigation that will be conducted separately and independently from the criminal case, and will be handled by a different team of career staff from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The charges announced today are also separate from, and in addition to, the charges the State of Minnesota has brought against these former officers related to the death of Mr. Floyd. The federal charges allege different criminal offenses; specifically, they allege violations of the U.S. Constitution, rather than of state law.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan and Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk for the District of Minnesota commend the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this matter, and thank the Minneapolis Police Department for its cooperation in the investigation.

The federal criminal cases are being prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk of the District of Minnesota, Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha Bates, LeeAnn Bell, Evan Gilead, Manda Sertich and Allen Slaughter of the District of Minnesota."

 

[SouthAussie]

@ZekeJMiller

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal grand jury indicts 4 former Minneapolis police officers on charges they violated George Floyd's civil rights.

Thank goodness!

It sounds as if the feds have decided that ....

".... a secondary conviction so Chauvin won’t be able to walk free if he successfully appeals down the road.
“By having a second conviction in place, there is a sort of a belt-and-suspenders approach to a case that is of substantial interest to both the state and federal government,” McQuade said."
Former federal prosecutors explain how bringing civil rights charges against Derek Chauvin would work


The thought of Chauvin walking away - on appeal technicalities - is not a thought I like.

 

[kittythehare]

Thank goodness!

It sounds as if the feds have decided that ....

".... a secondary conviction so Chauvin won’t be able to walk free if he successfully appeals down the road.
“By having a second conviction in place, there is a sort of a belt-and-suspenders approach to a case that is of substantial interest to both the state and federal government,” McQuade said."
Former federal prosecutors explain how bringing civil rights charges against Derek Chauvin would work


The thought of Chauvin walking away - on appeal technicalities - is not a thought I like.

I never thought there was the slightest chance of a successful appeal, most of the arguments were already denied.
I think this is to be applauded as an entirely separate thing.
It's important and it's significant in itself, no matter what the outcome of the original trial was.
It's good.
Really good.

 

[kittythehare]

Mark Osler has an explainer thread on the Federal charges.
https://twitter.com/Oslerguy/status/1390718478718435329?s=20

-First, the federal charges allege INaction-- that is, a failure by Thao and Kueng to stop Chauvin (ct. 2), and a failure by all four to render medical aid (ct. 3). In other words, those two charges focus on what they DIDN'T do, while the state charges require affirmative actions.

-Second, they treat the defendants differently-- Chauvin as most culpable, Thao and Kueng as next most culpable, and Lane as least culpable. He is only named in ct. 3, for failure to render medical aid.

-Third, there are actually two indictments. The second one charges Chauvin alone with violating the civil rights of a juvenile in 2017. This reinforces the concerns of the pattern & practice investigation, as Chauvin did this violence and was kept on the force.

-And, of course, they are federal. That means that potential sentences are higher (though except for the second indictment on Chauvin, they would be concurrent with state punishment).

-My hunch is that there is lot going on out of sight here-- Including, possibly, negotiations between the state, the feds, and the defense attorneys on a universal settlement that would resolve sentencing, avoid a second trial, and waive appeals. In other words- finish this.

Amen, maybe
Mark Osler bio-
Robert & Marion Short Prof., St. Thomas Law (MN) Frm fed. pros., now a prof. & author of Contemporary Criminal Law:

 

[Cubby]

Someone needs to remind Mitchell black lies matter. What was he thinking? He may be the one thing that reverses justice.

On another note, good thing the federal charges finally happened.

This needs to be done the right way.

 

[kittythehare]

Someone needs to remind Mitchell black lies matter. What was he thinking? He may be the one thing that reverses justice.

On another note, good thing the federal charges finally happened.

This needs to be done the right way.

Cubby, just because people are saying he did something wrong doesn't make it so.
Check this out
A new trial for Chauvin is not likely to be granted—Here's why
for-chauvin-is-not-likely-to-be-granted-heres-why/

He didn't lie.
He didn't perjure himself.
And this.
A Chauvin juror participated in the 2020 March on Washington. Is it grounds for appeal?
People keep repeating it but this is what the experts are saying.
I choose to believe them.

 

[kittythehare]

And..
just 'cos today is karma-is-real day
another treat.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
ETA hint
Fowler's troubles..

 

[Cubby]

Cubby, just because people are saying he did something wrong doesn't make it so.
Check this out
A new trial for Chauvin is not likely to be granted—Here's why
for-chauvin-is-not-likely-to-be-granted-heres-why/

He didn't lie.
He didn't perjure himself.
And this.
A Chauvin juror participated in the 2020 March on Washington. Is it grounds for appeal?
People keep repeating it but this is what the experts are saying.
I choose to believe them.

I saw that..... Imo Mitchell was wrong for not disclosing the information immediately. It was dishonest and he had to know anything he deliberately withheld may cause problems down the line. Sadly he put himself above justice for GF. We'll see how the consequences of his choices affect this case.

 

[sds71]

BALTIMORE —

[URL='https://www.wbaltv.com/article/derek-chauvin-trial-april-14/36117628']Testimony from Maryland's former chief medical examiner during the Derek Chauvin trial prompted the Maryland Attorney General's Office to launch an audit of in-custody deaths made by his office.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement Friday that he is working with Gov. Larry Hogan's chief legal counsel to develop the timeline and process for an audit to examine all in-custody death determinations the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's made during the tenure of Dr. David Fowler.

[/URL]
Audit to investigate Dr. David Fowler's in-custody death cases

 

[al66pine]

Wow! Dura lex, sed lex! Bravo

@Dotta bbm Just jumping off your post, not speaking to this case specifically.
Yes:
Dura Lex, Sed Lex; The law is harsh but it is the law.

Other variations & possibilities:
Dura Lex, Spandex; The law is harsh but it can be stretched.
Dura Lex, Pyrex; The law is harsh but it can be broken.

 

[Dotta]

Thanks I meant HARSH for DC and company haha