presented in previous cases. His 177-page ruling, filed Monday night, was released Tuesday.
Floyd, a Black man, died May 25, 2020, after officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd's killing touched off protests around the world and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Unlike the other three former officers, Thao maintained that he did nothing wrong. When he rejected a plea deal in state court last August, he said “it would be lying” to plead guilty. Paule argued that the state had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao knew that Chauvin was committing a crime or that Thao intended to help in a crime.
But Frank noted that witnesses who believe excited delirium is a real condition testified previously that Floyd displayed none of the symptoms. Cahill based his decision on exhibits and transcripts from Chauvin’s murder trial, which he presided over, and