Attorneys for 3 ex-officers in Floyd case call for charges to be dismissed
J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao have been charged with aiding and abetting former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. (Credit: Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The defense teams for three of the fired Minneapolis police officers charged in connection to George Floyd's death are calling for all charges to be dismissed, alleging a recent leak to the media will impact the jury.
Last week, New York Times reported then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr rejected a plea deal for former officer Derek Chauvin several days after Floyd's death.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are all charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Monday, Thao's attorney filed a motion for all charges to be dismissed and for the supervising prosecuting attorneys; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Matthew Frank and Neal Katyal; to be sanctioned.
The filing from Thao's lawyers claimed the state "directly or indirectly" leaked the information.
In a statement in response to the motion, Ellison called it a "convoluted conspiracy theory."
On Tuesday, Thomas Plunkett, an attorney representing Kueng filed a similar motion. In addition to concern over the alleged leak, Plunkett also accused the three supervising prosecuting attorneys of "prosecutorial misconduct" due to delays in evidence disclosure.
Lane's lawyer filed motion Wednesday requesting to join the motions filed by Thao and Kueng's defense teams.
Chauvin's trial is set to begin on March 8. Thao, Kueng and Lane will be tried together in August.