Supreme Court refuses to consider ex-MPD officer Tou Thao's federal sentence appeal

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld his conviction for violating George Floyd's civil rights.

January 9, 2024 at 8:07PM
Tou Thao speaks during his sentencing hearing in Hennepin County District Court on Monday, Aug. 7, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Leila Navidi, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider ex-Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao's appeal of his federal conviction for violating George Floyd's civil rights in 2020.

The high court delivered its rejection through a one-sentence denial communicated Tuesday by the clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis. This comes after a three-judge panel from that circuit last year upheld Thao's convictions on two counts of depriving Floyd's rights under color of law.

Those charges held that Thao failed to intervene in Derek Chauvin's use of unreasonable force and that Thao was "deliberately indifferent to Floyd's medical needs" while Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck.

Robert Paule, Thao's attorney, argued in a November petition that federal prosecutors "failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that petitioner's actions and inactions were willful or specifically for a bad purpose." They also argued that prosecutors "engaged in numerous, varied, and pervasive acts of misconduct at trial beginning with its opening statement, continuing throughout the presentation of evidence, and culminating in the closing arguments."

Paule declined to comment on the Supreme Court's Tuesday rejection.

The Eighth Circuit panel concluded that prosecutors indeed offered evidence that Thao knew from his training that Chauvin's force was unreasonable and that Thao had a duty to intervene in another officer's use of unreasonable force. The panel pointed to testimony that, under MPD policy, neck restraints are inappropriate once a detainee stops resisting, even when a detainee is experiencing excited delirium.

Though the Eighth Circuit agreed with Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided over the federal prosecution, that evidence of deliberate indifference was "not overwhelming," it held that a jury could reasonably find that Thao acted willfully.

One of four officers prosecuted in connection with Floyd's killing, Thao is serving a 3½-year federal prison sentence and four years and nine months in state prison on state charges related to Floyd's murder, which sparked a global outcry. Alexander Kueng is serving more than three years and Thomas Lane is serving three years for their respective state and federal convictions in the case.

Chauvin is also appealing his conviction on federal civil rights charges. The Supreme Court late last year rejected his appeal of his second-degree murder in state court. Chauvin is serving a 22½-year prison sentence for both convictions.

about the writer

Stephen Montemayor

Reporter

Stephen Montemayor covers federal courts and law enforcement. He previously covered Minnesota politics and government.

See More

More from Local

card image

The former president held three Minnesota rallies in the three months leading up to the 2020 election. He’s had less of a presence this year and has spent considerably more time in Wisconsin.

card image
card image