By Steve Karnowski -
The Associated Press
A former Minneapolis police officer who restrained bystanders while his colleagues forcibly restrained George Floyd, already dying, was sentenced Monday for accessory to murder.
Tou Thao, who had already been convicted in federal court of violating Floyd's civil rights, was the last of four former police officers to be tried in state court for Floyd's murder.
Thao rejected a plea deal and, instead of going to trial, let Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill decide the verdict based on the pleadings submitted by each party and evidence presented in prior cases.
His 177-page judgment, delivered Monday night, was made public Tuesday.
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"Thao's actions were not authorized by law," the judge ruled, "there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that his actions were factually unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the perspective of all circumstances".
Prosecutors argued in their January pleadings that Thao "acted without courage and showed no compassion" despite his nearly nine years of experience, and that he disregarded his training even though he could see Floyd's life slipping away. .
[One of the police officers who participated in the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis is sentenced to three and a half years in prison]
Floyd, a black man, died on May 25, 2020 after Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground by placing his knee on Floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes.
A bystander's video caught Floyd's fading cries as he said: "I can't breathe."
Floyd's murder sparked protests around the world and forced an acknowledgment of police brutality and racism.
Chauvin, the ranking officer on the scene, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in April 2021 and later pleaded guilty in the federal case.
Two other officers (J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane) pleaded guilty to state charges of accessory to murder and were convicted with Thao in their federal case.
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Unlike the other three ex-agents, Thao said he had done nothing wrong.
In August he rejected a plea deal in state court, saying pleading guilty "would be lying."
However, prosecutor Matthew Frank wrote that Thao knew his companions were holding Floyd in a manner that was "extremely dangerous" because it could stop his breathing and that was "the exact condition Floyd complained about multiple times because he was suffering".
[Three years in prison for a former Minneapolis police officer for the murder of George Floyd]
"Thao made a conscious decision to contribute to this dangerous containment: he actively encouraged the other three officers and assisted in their offense by holding back concerned bystanders," he added.
Defense attorney Robert Paule argued that the prosecution had been unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao knew Chauvin was committing a crime or that the police officer intended to assist in a crime.
"Each of Thao's actions was based on the training he received from the Minneapolis Police Department," Paule wrote.
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The lawyer argued that Thao "reasonably believed" that Floyd was suffering from a controversial condition known as "excited delirium" that some coroners have attributed to other deaths in custody, especially when someone has used drugs.
Paule said the steps Thao took were intended to help Floyd get medical attention quickly.
He said the former officer was unaware that Floyd was not breathing or had no pulse.
But Frank pointed out that witnesses who believe excited delusion is a real illness testified that Floyd was not displaying any of the symptoms.
[A federal judge sentences Derek Chauvin to 20 years in prison for violating George Floyd's civil rights]
The judge ordered an investigation of the sentence and set August 7 as the date to issue it.
Minnesota's sentencing guidelines recommend four years for the manslaughter charge.
He will serve the state sentence simultaneously with the federal three and a half years.
The plea agreement between the prosecution and the defense specified that if the judge convicted Thao of accessory to murder in the second degree, the State would drop the more serious charge of accessory to murder in the second degree, with a presumed sentence of 12 and a half years.
Cahill based his decision on evidence and transcripts from the Chauvin murder trial, which he presided over, and the federal civil rights trial of Thao, Kueng and Lane last year.
Specifically, Thao was then sentenced for depriving Floyd of his right to receive medical attention and for not intervening and arresting Chauvin.
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During that trial, Thao testified that he trusted the other officers to take care of Floyd's medical needs while he controlled a group of about 15 bystanders and traffic outside a Minneapolis store where Floyd had attempted to use a counterfeit $20 bill. Dollars.
Thao testified in court that when he and Chauvin arrived, the other police officers were struggling with Floyd.
He said it was clear to him, as the other officers tried to get Floyd into a patrol car, "that he was under the influence of some type of drug."
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Video from his body camera showed him at one point telling onlookers: "This is why you don't do drugs, guys."
When an off-duty, out-of-uniform woman who works for the Minneapolis fire department asked if officers had taken Floyd's pulse, Thao snapped, "Stay back!"
Thao acknowledged that he heard viewers growing concerned about Floyd's condition and heard him say: "I can't breathe."
But he said that he did not know that anything serious was wrong with him even when he was taken away by an ambulance.
The judge did not accept Thao's claims of innocence.
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"Thao was trained by the Minneapolis Police Department in use of force and medical protocols, which are consistent with generally accepted policing practices," Cahill wrote.
He added: "Under those policies and practices, it was factually unreasonable to (among other things): encourage their colleagues to engage in a dangerous prone restraint for 9 minutes and 24 seconds, encourage those officers not to use a device restraint, actively assist in their restraint, and prevent bystanders from providing medical assistance Thao's actions were all the more unreasonable considering that he had a duty to intervene to stop the excessive use of force by the other officers and because he was qualified to provide medical assistance".
Thao is an Hmong American, Kueng is black, and Lane is white.
