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Jury selection begins Thursday in the federal trial for the three ex-cops who stood idle as Derek Chauvin put his knee on the neck of George Floyd.
Prosecutors will have to prove if each of the officers willingly violated George Floyd’s constitutional rights, but this task may prove to be difficult.
According to experts, in federal cases, an accident, bad judgment, or negligence isn’t enough to support federal charges; therefore, prosecutors must prove that the three officers knew what they were doing was wrong, but continued to do it anyway.
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According to the indictment, all three officers saw Floyd needed medical attention, but failed to assist him with any aid.
J. Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao all face charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights while under government authority. Thao and Kueng have also been charged with willfully violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure for not stopping Derek Chauvin while his knee was on Floyd’s neck.
The officers could face life in prison, but sentences like that are highly unlikely, especially in cases involving law enforcement.
“This trial is going to present an evolutionary step beyond what we saw at the Chauvin trial because we’re not looking at the killer, but the people who enable the killer,” said former federal prosecutor Mark Osler. “That gets a step closer to the culture of the department.”
