Chauvin's peers were offered plea deals and turned them down even after convictions in federal case

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The three former Minneapolis cops convicted of violating George Floyd’s federal civil rights turned down plea deals in the state case against them, the Minnesota attorney general’s office told CNN after The Associated Press reported the news on Monday. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane were charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter and murder when they assisted their former peer, Derek Chauvin, in responding to a call regarding a twenty-dollar bill that a teen clerk suspected was fake.

Chauvin ended up kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in a murder—recorded in a witness video that went viral—on May 25, 2020, outside of the Cup Foods store in Minneapolis. Kueng held Floyd down with Lane, while Thao blocked bystanders from providing Floyd with any aid. The office of Attorney General Keith Ellison told CNN the accused men were offered plea deals on March 22, but prosecutors would not detail the specifics of those deals.

Earl Gray, Lane’s attorney, told The Associated Press the delayed federal sentencing hampered his ability to negotiate a deal. The news wire reported that all three former cops remain out on bail with no sentencing date scheduled. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, the presiding judge in the case, told lead prosecutor Matthew Frank to file the proposed plea deals after the jury is seated, a process that is expected to take about three of the estimated eight trial weeks, according to the AP.

The offered pleas came up during a hearing Cahill held primarily to determine whether the officers’ state trial would be livestreamed. Federal court rules prevented the option in the ex-officers’ federal case, but the decision rests with Cahill in the state case. The judge allowed Chauvin’s trial to be livestreamed in a rare exception to normal court rules because of the pandemic.

“COVID-19 is less of a pandemic and more of an endemic issue now,” Cahill told the AP. He also emphasized that while he has publicly stated he believes televised trials should be allowed, that is not the rule of the court yet and he is “still sworn to uphold the law.”

Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu told The Star Tribune she initially opposed allowing a livestream of the trial of former Brooklyn Center officer Kimberly Potter, but she changed her position because of the pandemic. Chu wrote in a court order that her decision to allow the livestream was “based solely on concerns for public health and safety given the ongoing pandemic.” After the trial, she told the newspaper that she didn’t regret the decision and that cameras weren’t disruptive to Potter’s or Chauvin’s trials.

“I thought it was appropriate in the two cases and it went very smoothly, but I’m going to leave it to others as to what the parameters should be,” Chu said. “I forgot they were even there.”

Potter was ultimately convicted and sentenced to two years in the death of Daunte Wright, despite claims she was reaching for her Taser when she accidentally shot Wright with a gun. Chu called the case “the saddest” she has had in 20 years.

The judge turned in a letter announcing her retirement on Feb. 15, three days before she sentenced Potter, The Star Tribune reported. Chu could have pursued a re-election bid for another six years on the bench, but Minnesota’s mandatory retirement age of 70 years old would have forced her to retire only a year and a half into her term, according to The Star Tribune.

She said her fellow judges have been “so supportive” during and after the Potter trial. Cahill, too, seems to be relying on his peers and other court administrators, specifically regarding whether he will allow the live recording of the state trial for Thao, Lane, and Kueng. The judge said he wouldn’t make a decision until the Minnesota Judicial Council meets on Thursday to weigh in.

Attorney Leita Walker, who represents several media organizations including the AP, asked Cahill to allow video coverage. “The public is just not going to understand why they got to watch that one gavel to gavel and they won’t be able to watch this one,” Walker said.

The state trial for Thao, Lane, and Kueng is set to begin in June, the AP reported.

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