What to expect in the trial of two former MPD officers charged in the death of George Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS -- Jury selection begins Monday in the state trial of two former Minneapolis Police officers charged in the death of George Floyd.
Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. Both turned down a plea deal from the state.
Experts expect this trial will be much different than Derek Chauvin's trial, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd.
What you won't see during this trial are the sights and sounds of what happens inside the courtroom. No cameras are allowed, limiting the public from seeing the court process.
Joe Tamborino is a criminal defense attorney not affiliated with this case. He believes it will take time to seat a jury in this case.
"That's why they did a jury questioneer. The questioneer is pretty extensive, just like in the Chauvin case, and they are going to be asking the jurors what they know about this case what they've read about, seen so they can weed out the potential jurors who can't be fair in the case," said Tamborino.
Tamborino says once seated, jurors will listen to a long list of witnesses.
"The witness list on both sides is voluminous but you know there are some very powerful witnesses in the Chauvin trial and we'll see if they reappear in this trial," said Tamborino.
Chauvin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing George Floyd. Thomas Lane took a plea deal and is serving two years for his role.
All four former Minneapolis Police officers were found guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights in federal court. All have been sentenced and are doing federal time behind bars.
Tamborino believes the state's case against Thao and Kueng will be harder to prove.
"This case is really different," said Tamborino. "This case is about aiding and abetting what the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that Mr. Keuing and Mr. Tao intentionally knew what they were doing when they were aiding Mr. Chauvin that they knew he was committing a crime."
Tamborino does expect to hear both sides question witnesses as to what they said in Federal court - its called prior consistent/inconsistent statements. He also believes jurors will hear from both Thao and Kueng.
Jury selection begins Monday morning. It's expected to take two weeks with the trial beginning November 7th.
