Attention has once again been drawn to the severity of the penalties for four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd, a black man that sparked mass racism protests and riots in the United States in 2020.
According to the Associated Press and USA Today on the 25th, the trial of former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander King (29) and Tu Tao (36), who were indicted by state prosecutors in connection with the death of Floyd, was selected by a jury at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis the day before. It was supposed to start with the work, but the schedule was abruptly canceled when Kung pleaded guilty, and Tao abandoned the jury trial.
King pleaded guilty to negotiating with the prosecution through his defense counsel and admitted to the charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter on condition that he was released from the charge of aiding and aiding in second-degree murder. did.
Before King, former police officer Thomas Lane, 39, also pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter last month and was sentenced to three years in prison.
However, former police officer Tao refused to negotiate with the prosecution and decided to go to trial, saying, “To admit guilt is to make a false confession and it is a sin.”
However, he agreed to give up the trial by the jury and receive a single trial by the judge, in which the judge decides whether he is guilty or not based on the testimony of the accused and the evidence agreed by both the prosecution and the accused.
Tao submits the relevant materials before the 17th of the next month, and the judge in charge decides within 90 days.
The Associated Press reported that Tao could face up to 12 years and 6 months in prison if found guilty of aiding and aiding in second-degree murder.
National Public Radio (NPR) predicted that if Tao was found guilty only on the charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, he would face a four-year prison sentence. did.
Derek Chauvin, 46, a senior police officer who suffocated by kneeling for more than nine minutes in the process of arresting Floyd, was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder by a Hennepin County jury in April last year. Both were convicted and sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison two months later. However, he has appealed the ruling.
Separately, all four officers have also been charged by federal prosecutors for violating federal civil rights laws.
Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison in a federal court in Minnesota in July and sent to a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona.
He was subsequently found guilty of violating the constitutional rights of King, Tao and Raindo Floyd, and was sentenced to three years, three years and six months, and two and a half years in prison in a federal court in July, respectively.
Tao began serving his life in Lexington Penitentiary in Kentucky earlier this month, NPR added.
The court allowed all four officers to serve sentences in both state and federal courts simultaneously.