George Floyd took lethal fentanyl dose during arrest that 'contributed to his death,' says Thomas Lane's lawyer
Attorney of former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, allegedly involved in the death of George Floyd, has alleged that Floyd overdosing on fentanyl while resisting arrest contributed to his death. Lane's attorney Earl Gray has argued that the charges against his client should be dropped because the former officer did "nothing wrong" according to a new filing in the case.
Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died in police custody on May 25, triggering nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Four Minneapolis police officers allegedly involved in Floyd's brutal death were fired on May 26 after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The footage showed Floyd pleading with officers as one of them, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck while the 46-year-old told them to let him stand because he could not breathe. Floyd pleaded with the officer to allow him to breathe and a few minutes later he became unconscious. All four officers — Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng — were later arrested in the case.
Gray has filed a motion to dismiss the charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder against Lane. Ever since the former officer's arrest, his attorney has argued that there is not sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Lane committed a crime. "Officer Lane did nothing wrong," Gray wrote, according to the filings.
Gray, in court filings on Monday, August 17, pointed to police bodycam footage to claim that it appears Floyd swallowed "2 milligrams of fentanyl" calling it "a lethal dose." The attorney claimed that Floyd alleged swallowed the drugs while officers were attempting to take him into custody while pointing to a white spot on Floyd's tongue, which disappeared in the footage, according to Gray.
The court document read: "All he had to do is sit in the police car, like every other defendant who is initially arrested. While attempting to avoid his arrest, all by himself, Mr Floyd overdosed on fentanyl. Given his intoxication level, breathing would have been difficult at best. Mr Floyd’s intentional failure to obey commands, coupled with his overdosing, contributed to his own death."
Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s autopsy's preliminary results had concluded that Floyd died from a combination of heart disease and "potential intoxicants in his system" that were exacerbated by the restraint placed on him by police officers. Lane's attorney is expected to present his arguments for throwing out the charges against the former cop at the next hearing, which is scheduled on September 11. Gray had already submitted a filing in July, petitioning the court to throw out the charges against Lane because they were legally deficient, according to the Star Tribune. The filing reported also mentioned Floyd's use of drugs and his criminal background.
Floyd’s aunt Angela Harrelson and uncle Selwyn Jones, while responding to the details mentioned in Gray's filing, said that they were disappointed that the attorney had brought up their nephew's past in an effort to condone Lane's actions. Harrelson told the outlet: "Regardless of his past, nothing justifies the way he died. I just feel that to go after someone’s character to justify his death, I’m not pleased with that. I’m not saying that he was a perfect person. He made mistakes. And he had a disease that he was working hard to fight against and it’s a tough disease to fight."