The attorneys of two of the Minneapolis former police officers involved in George Floyd's assassination are using a victim blame strategy on the case.
RELATED:
Earl Gray, the lawyer for Thomas Lane, is pushing the case to alleged substance abuse and drug trafficking by Floyd. Legal expertssaidthisapproachtakesadvantage of feedingthe 'dangerousblack man stereotype,' a dangeroustacticconsidering social anti-racismunrest.
"Mr. Floyd was, as the officers had suspected, an addict. He was worse than that," Gray wrote.
The legal team also intends to subvert Floyd's legal cause of death, alleging a fentanyl overdose. Hennepin County Medical classified the death as a homicide due to neck compression and smothering. The officials found fentanyl in his corpse, but not in a significant amount.
Dereck Chauvin's attorney evoked a prior arrest in Floyd's criminal record, in 2019. Gray and Eric Nelson said Floyd was unresponsive to officers' commands and had to be physically restrained. They also referred to opioids' presence in his system back then.
"Everything you need to know is on that horrific video. When police do inexcusable things, the defense is always to kill the victim all over again by dredging up their history and assassinating their character," said the lawyer of George Floyd's family Ben Crump.
Dereck Chauvin, the former officer who stood on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, faces second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter charges. Thomas Lane, J Kueng, and Tou Thao would be judged for aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.