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Another long trial over the killing of George Floyd was averted on Monday after one former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty to manslaughter and another agreed to take a more uncommon approach and let a judge decide his fate based on the evidence in the case.
J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao had been set to stand trial Monday on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter in the killing of Floyd.
Instead, Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in exchange for the murder count being dismissed. And Thao, who previously told the judge that it “would be lying” to plead guilty, agreed to what’s called a stipulated evidence trial on the aiding and abetting manslaughter count. The two sides will work out agreed-upon evidence in his case, file written closing arguments and let Judge Peter Cahill decide guilt or innocence.
If Thao is convicted, the murder count—which carries a presumptive sentence of 12.5 years in prison—will be dropped.
The day’s developments pushed the long process of prosecuting the officers involved in Floyd’s death nearer an end. Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, after former officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck while holding him down during an arrest on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a store. Chauvin was convicted in state court in spring 2021 and later pleaded guilty to federal charges. A fourth officer, Thomas Lane, was convicted of federal charges in February and pleaded guilty to state charges in May.
