Federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday that no plea deal would be offered to the three former Minneapolis police officers charged with civil rights violations in the death of George Floyd, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
The announcement was made as the joint trial of Officers J. Alexander Kueng, 27; Thomas Lane, 38; and Tou Thao, 35; is set to begin on Jan. 20 regarding their role in the death of Floyd, 46, during an attempted arrest.
The trio has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force while acting under government authority.
The officers’ former colleague, Derek Chauvin, was convicted in April on state charges in Minnesota of murdering Floyd. Unlike them, he pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges relating to the event in December.
During the pretrial hearing in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson also ruled that a 10-year-old witness could not testify on behalf of the prosecution and that a firefighter on-scene could not wear her uniform while testifying on the stand.
Additionally, Magnuson said 18 jurors, including six alternates, will be selected to hear the case. He also reaffirmed that the trial would be live-streamed to the public.
After the federal trial, the officers are scheduled to face a trial in Minnesota state court on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Kueng, Lane, and Thao have also pleaded not guilty to those charges.
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