More than 100 motions have been filed by prosecutors and defense attorneys for former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao in an attempt to bar testimony and evidence during their state trial over the killing of George Floyd, per the Associated Press.
Kueng and Thao face state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter for their involvement in Floyd's death.
The two, along with former officer Thomas Lane, were working with Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, when he knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man said he couldn't breathe. Thao stopped bystanders from intervening as Kueng knelt on Floyd's back and Lane held his legs.
Hearings on the motions are set for Thursday (October 6) and Friday (October 7), and both sides have requested certain pieces of evidence and testimony be barred based on the outcome of previous trials for Floyd's death.
Tom Plunkett, Kueng’s attorney, is asking the judge to prohibit the state's witnesses from asking jurors to participate in demonstrations, including asking them to examine their own necks.
The request comes after a Floyd trial where lung and critical care specialist Dr. Martin Tobin encouraged jurors to place their hands on their necks to demonstrate how he believed the 46-year-old died.
Jurors later said that Tobin gave some of the trial’s most compelling evidence.
In a previous trial, paramedic Derek Smith testified that when he couldn't find Floyd's pulse following the incident, "In layman’s terms? I thought he was dead.”
Thao's attorney, Bob Paule, is now asking the judge to bar witnesses from referring to Floyd as dead until the time when he was officially pronounced dead at the hospital.
On the other side of the aisle, the state wants to bar attorneys from including evidence about Thao and Kueng's character and families in their defense.
The request follows their federal trial, where the former officers and their family members discussed their background, volunteer work, and how they overcame hardship; evidence that the state deemed irrelevant to the case.
The state is also aiming to bar evidence regarding whether Chauvin was qualified to be a field training officer after the defense attempted to blame the officers' training for their actions against Floyd during the federal trial.
Earlier this year, Kueng, Thao, and Lane were convicted in federal court of depriving Floyd of his right to medical aid. Thao and Kueng were convicted of a second count for failing to intervene as Chauvin fatally knelt on the Black man's neck.
Kueng was sentenced to three years in prison and Thao to 3.5 years on federal counts and the two reported to federal custody on Tuesday (October 4).
Lane avoided state trial by pleading guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. He was handed down a three-year sentence on state charges and 2.5 years on the federal conviction.
Jury selection for Thao and Kueng's state trial is set for October 24.
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