Jury deliberations begin in trial of 3 officers charged in George Floyd's death

Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A jury is expected to start deliberating Wednesday in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection with the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Tou Thao, 36, J. Alexander Kueng, 28, and Thomas Lane, 38, are charged with deprivation of rights under the color of law for not giving Floyd medical aid as former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes.

Chauvin was convicted last year in a Minnesota state court and entered a guilty plea in federal court on charges connected to Floyd's death.

The defense attorneys have said their clients were inexperienced officers who received inconsistent training and deferred to Chauvin's seniority during the arrest. All three officers testified in their own defense during the trial.

Most of the trial targeted the training of the officers and their ability to stop another officer they believed was using excessive force.

Federal Judge Paul Magnuson will give instructions to the jury late Wednesday morning before the start of deliberations.

The deliberations come a day after a federal jury in Georgia convicted three White men on hate crimes charges in the 2020 death of Ahmaud Arbery, who was Black.