MINNEAPOLIS _ Transcripts of body-worn camera footage from the night George Floyd was killed and of an interview with one of the officers at the scene were filed in court Tuesday along with a motion to dismiss the charges against one of the officers who assisted in the arrest.
Attorney Earl Gray filed the motion and documents in supporting of a motion to dismiss charges against former rookie Officer Thomas Lane. Pictures of the inside of the car Floyd was in at the time were included with the filing.
Gray's motion says there isn't enough evidence to establish probable cause that Lane committed a crime.
Lane and former colleagues J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in the May 25 killing of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man from St. Louis Park.
Their former colleague, veteran Officer Derek Chauvin, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the killing of Floyd after kneeling on his neck for nearly eight minutes.
Gray has argued in court that the case against Lane should be dismissed because his client twice asked if they should turn Floyd, who was handcuffed and lying stomach-down in the street, onto his side. Chauvin said no.
Lane was holding onto Floyd's legs at the time. Kueng was holding onto Floyd's back. Thao was managing a crowd nearby that had begun to gather and while some pleaded with the officers to lighten up.
The motion includes transcripts of footage from Kueng and Lane's body cameras. Kueng's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, confirmed that body-worn camera footage from Kueng and Lane were publicly filed as part of Lane's motion. The state court website tracking all four former officers' cases listed the transcripts but did not list the camera videos as having been filed. It's unclear why; the courts could not be immediately reached for comment.
Gray said in an interview Wednesday that the courts should make the two body camera videos he filed with the motion publicly available and open for viewing.
"I think the public should see it," he said. "That shows the whole picture. If they watch the whole thing, people ... couldn't cherry pick parts of it."
The encounter also was recorded by a bystander and widely seen across the world. It showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck and Thao managing a crowd of bystanders who stood nearby and pleaded with the officers to stop. The footage did not show Lane and Kueng, who were positioned behind the squad car, however.
"I don't think (the public) should be restricted from seeing (the body camera footage) because the attorney general has come out and said my client committed murder," Gray said. "Showing just the last little piece there is not fair."
Gray argued that Lane had a restricted view of Chauvin's actions and couldn't fully see what was happening as he was positioned at Floyd's feet with Kueng in the middle.
"It's not a case where he's standing by watching another cop pound on somebody's head," Gray said "This is a case where my client twice _ twice _ asked if we should turn him over and the answer from (Chauvin) was no," he added.
Plunkett declined to comment on Gray's motion or whether the court should release the body camera footage. Plunkett has previously noted that Kueng was also a rookie who looked to Chauvin for guidance at the scene, and had taken Floyd's pulse and announced that he couldn't find one.
Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, and Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Attorneys for Floyd's family also could not be immediately reached for comment.
A transcript of Lane's body camera video shows that Floyd pleaded with officers not to shoot him during their initial encounter, and later begged for them not to place him in the back of the squad before the fatal encounter during which he pleaded for his mother and said "tell my kids I love them."
As Lane approached the vehicle and briefly drew his weapon on Floyd when he didn't immediately show his hands, Floyd said, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. God dang man. Man, I got shot. I got shot the same way, Mr. Officer, before."
As Lane pulled Floyd from the vehicle, he asked Shawanda Renee Hill, a witness who had been in his car, why he was acting erratically.
"Why's he getting all squirelly (sic) and not showing us his hands, just being all weird like that?"
"I have no clue, because he's been shot before," Hill said.
"Well I get that, but still when officers say 'Get out of the car.' Is he drunk? Is he on something?"
"No, he got a thing going on, I'm telling you about the police ... He have problems all the time when they come, especially when that man put that gun like that."
Lane and Keung attempted to put Floyd in the back of the squad, during which he repeatedly begged them not to.
"Oh man, God don't leave me man, please man, please man," he pleaded, telling them he was claustrophobic as the officers repeatedly ordered him into the back of the squad.
Lane offered to sit in the squad with him and turn on the air conditioner.
"I'm not that kind of guy, man, I'm not that kind of guy ... and I just had COVID, I don't want to go back to that," Floyd said.
Lane told investigators Floyd was about his height, which he said was 6-foot-7.
Officers laid Floyd on the ground as he repeatedly told them he couldn't breathe and pleaded for his mother. Chauvin then arrived on the scene and asked if Floyd was going to jail. Kueng explained that he was under arrest for forgery.
"Do you got your, ah, restraint? Hobble?" Chauvin asked. The officers then called for "Code 2" for medics. Lane said Floyd had banged his head against the partition glass in the squad, resulting in a cut.
"You're under arrest, guy," Chauvin said.
"All right, all right. Oh my god. I can't believe this. I can't believe this ... Mom, I love you ... Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
"You're doing a lot of talking, man." Chauvin said.
Eventually officers stepped up the call to Code 3 as Lane asked whether Floyd should be rolled on his side. Chauvin said it wasn't necessary. Witnesses can be heard pleading with officers to get off Floyd in a bystander video that has since been viewed by millions, sparking international outrage.
Eventually Floyd lost consciousness and Lane did chest compressions while he discussed what happened with medics. Floyd was in full cardiac arrest.
"Was he fighting with you guys for a long time?" one asked.
"No. I mean a little bit, but not a long time, maybe a minute or two. We were just trying to get him in the squad and he came out the other end, so we were like we'll just wait."
"I wonder what he was on," the medic said.
"Not sure but he seemed very agitated and paranoid," Lane said.
"That's a shame," the medic said.
"Yeah," Lane replied. He was then called back to Cup Foods and asked for a lift back before he signed off.
An autopsy by the Hennepin County medical examiner found fentanyl in Floyd's system and evidence of prior methamphetamine use.
According to a transcript from Kueng's body camera, he had escorted Floyd across the street and sat him down.
"Thank you, man. Thank you, Mr. Officer," Floyd said, remaining cooperative as he gave Kueng his name and date of birth, adding once again that "I got shot last time, same thing, man."
Kueng then explained to Floyd that he was being detained for suspicion of passing a fake bill. Floyd said he understood.
"And do you know why we pulled you out of the car? Because you was not listening to anything we told you," Kueng said.
"Right, but I didn't know what was going on," Floyd said.
"You listen to us, and we will tell you what's going on, all right?" Kueng said.
"Yes sir," Floyd said.
Lane then asked Floyd if he was on something, while Kueng asked about the foam around his mouth. Floyd said he was scared, and that he had been playing basketball earlier.
The two officers then attempted to place Floyd in the back of the squad, while he again pleaded with them not to, saying he was claustrophobic.
After more struggle, Floyd began to collapse to the ground saying "I'm going to lay on the ground, oh, I'm coming down."
"Man, you going to die of a heart attack. Just get in the car," one of the officers then said.
As the officers restrained Floyd on the ground, Lane asked if they should move his legs. Chauvin and Kueng said not to.
Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe.
"You're doing fine, you're talking fine." Kueng said. The officers then debated whether Floyd was high on drugs, possibly PCP.
As bystanders pleaded with the officers to get off Floyd and check his pulse, Kueng did so, and told his fellow officers, "I can't find one."
"Huh?" Chauvin said.
Medics arrived and loaded Floyd into the ambulance. Kueng then approached Hill, who was with Floyd when he initially encountered officers. They briefly wondered what to do with Floyd's phone.
"Put his phone back," Kueng said. "If he's gonna come back and get his stuff, we got to be able to tell him where it is."
Kueng then returned to Cup Foods, spoke with employees and took the counterfeit $20 bill Floyd allegedly used to buy cigarettes.
LEGAL ARGUMENTS
Gray's motion cites the following legal arguments in favor of dismissing the charges against Lane:
1. There is not substantial admissible evidence to survive a motion for a directed verdict that Thomas Lane aided and abetted second degree murder or manslaughter.
2. There is no evidence in the voluminous discovery that Officer Lane played an intentional role in aiding the commission of a crime. There is no circumstantial evidence Lane knew that Chauvin was committing a crime. Hence, the legal requirements showing he acted with intent cannot be met.
3. Lane did not intentionally aid, advise, hire, counsel, or conspire with Chauvin or otherwise procure Chauvin to commit second degree murder. Lane did not encourage any alleged criminal actions of Chauvin. He did not know and had no reason to believe that a third degree assault was being committed, nor did he intend for the restraints of his Floyd's legs to help commit a crime.
4. Lane did not know what Chauvin was thinking while restraining Floyd. Chauvin did not verbally tell Lane anything about his intentions other than waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Lane knew Floyd needed to be restrained and he knew Chauvin was authorized to use reasonable force to restrain.
