Tou Thao, one of the former police officers of Minneapolis, who stood silently as Derek Chauvin kneeled upon George Floyd’s neck, is filing for charges dismissal.
The ex-official claims that he had no clue that such a major crime was going to be committed. Likewise, he mentions that till now, the state hasn’t proved his involvement.
The legal documents were presented at the District County Court in Hennepin. They mentioned a call for Tou Thao’s charges dismissal, on the mere basis that they couldn’t be supported by any possible cause, per the Minnesota statute.
The 34-year-old ex-police officer, alongside his two other colleagues, 27-year-old J.point 189 | Alexander Kueng, and 36-year-old Thomas Lane, were all acquitted for abetting and assisting second-degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter.point 321 |
Likewise, they chose to remain silent, failing to intervene during the notorious killing on May 25th.point 86 | point 86 | 1
Both of Thao’s other colleagues, Kueng and Lane have similarly filed pleas for their dismissal of charges recently.
Robert Paule, who is Thao’s attorney, says that the state law failed to show that his client knew that Derek Chauvin and others were going to carry out the crime. Similarly, he explained how no evidence was available to show how Thao’s presence could further commission that sort of crime.
According to reports, his attorney further made claims that the facts shown by General Matthew Frank, who is the Assistant Attorney for the case, don’t match the accusations that Mr. Thao ‘had the required mental state to assist or abet,’ under laws of the Minnesota state.
Moreover, Thao is the only police officer that didn’t lay his hands upon George Floyd, post the disastrous allegations that Floyd attempted to pay for his supplies via a fake dollar bill.
The original complaint filed in the case mentioned how officers Lane, alongside Kueng, were already present at the scene, as Chauvin and Thao made a separate entry in different squad cars.
And that’s exactly when Chauvin haphazardly stepped in to try and get Floyd into Kueng’s and Lane’s police vehicle. However, when Chauvin pulled Floyd from the passenger side of the vehicle, Mr, Floyd fell face down on the ground, handcuffed.
Chauvin went on kneeling on Floyd’s neck with his knee, despite his numerous helpless outcries to stop.