*If you missed it, Monday night Earl Gray, an attorney for Thomas Lane, one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd, made, in our view, a cornball attempt to defend his client’s failure to intervene during the nearly nine minutes that former officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck.
We don’t know what prompted him or why he thought it was relevant, but Gray, appearing on CNN’s “Prime Time with Chris Cuomo,” said that no civilian bystanders stepped in to stop the officers either.
“If all these people say, ‘why didn’t my client intercede,’ well, if the public is there and they’re so in an uproar about this, they didn’t intercede either,” Gray said, adding that Lane was holding down Floyd’s legs and was in a position where he “couldn’t really see” what was going on.
Gray’s comment didn’t go over too well and was immediately met by backlash from attorneys who said his remarks were a big mistake. It also prompted Cuomo to cut the lawyer off and point out two glaring problems with what he said.
“One—you’re lying on a man’s legs, you’ve got a fine view of what’s going on with that man. The other officer is literally a foot in front of you on his neck. Two, I understand that he has a senior officer telling him what to do, but there’s also a duty to intervene. And if the officer is doing something that is dangerous to a civilian, you have a duty to intervene, and he did not intervene,” Cuomo said. “And the idea that the civilians should have rushed in to a policing situation in the inner city of Minneapolis against four police officers that have weapons and are kneeling on the neck of a man—don’t you think that’s asking a little much of civilians and a little too little of your client?”
Gray’s response was rather weak, saying he “just brought that up” without providing an explanation as to why it was relevant.
The attorney for one of the officer’s charged in George Floyd’s death says that if the public is so concerned about Floyd’s death, why didn’t any citizen witnessing the incident intervene. What?!! pic.twitter.com/JzTBzCZSOB
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) June 9, 2020
Gray later said that his client, a rookie, thought he was following the Minneapolis Police Department protocol.
In response to that comment, CNN put up a graphic showing Section 5-303.01 of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Use of Force Policy concerning an officer’s duty to intervene:
“It shall be the duty of every sworn employee present at any scene where physical force is being applied to either stop or attempt to stop another sworn employee when force is being inappropriately applied or is no longer required.”
“This was quite possibly the worst comment I’ve ever seen a lawyer make in defense of his client,” national security attorney Bradley P. Moss tweeted about Gray’s appearance.
This was quite possibly the worst comment I’ve ever seen a lawyer make in defense of his client. https://t.co/ESEctiHi7M
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) June 9, 2020
Attorney Mark Zaid basically seconded Moss’s view.
“I often speak to media about my clients, but majority of my cases are civil. Sometimes in criminal cases interviews are appropriate, but the [attorney] best really be prepared to be persuasive,” Zaid wrote. “There are reasons why criminal defense [attorneys] should not speak publicly. This is one example.”
I often speak to media abt my clients, but majority of my cases are civil. Sometimes in criminal cases interviews are appropriate, but the attny best really be prepared to be persuasive.
There are reasons why criminal defense attnys should not speak publicly. This is one example https://t.co/bydUrMg49E
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) June 9, 2020
In a previous interview with a CNN reporter, the attorney seemingly called the theory of the case against his client “bullshit,” reports LawandCrime.com.
“I’m not claiming that he was following orders. I’m claiming that he thought what he was doing was right. Because he asked a training officer: ‘Should we roll him over?’ Twice. You’ve got to have criminal intent for second-degree murder. And, frankly, this is bullshit.”
Our job is to ask the hard questions.
That often doesn’t win us friends, especially defense attorneys for police officers charged with accessory to murder, who are trying to shift blame away from their clients.
(pardon the profanity) pic.twitter.com/xBdEREJySX
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) June 5, 2020
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