A Texas legal group on Wednesday applied for a pardon for the late George Floyd after the officer involved in one of his drug arrests was accused of forging government records.
Floyd was apprehended in 2004 in the Lone Star State for possessing 0.03 grams of crack cocaine and providing the narcotics to a “second suspect,” who then attempted to sell the drugs to former officer Gerald Goines, who was posing as a buyer, the Harris County Public Defender’s Office wrote in its application.
Goines was arrested in 2019 and accused of lying on multiple search warrant applications and engaging in a “history of deceit and lawlessness,” prosecutors said at the time. Goines was charged with murder and obstructing justice by falsifying records stemming from a botched drug raid that killed two people, and the then-55-year-old pleaded not guilty.
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The attorneys said they’re seeking the pardon because his conviction is no longer “supported by evidence” in light of Goines’s apprehension.
“He was a dad, brother, and son,” the lawyers said of Floyd. “That said, this pardon is not sought because of the things George Floyd did or did not do. This pardon is not sought based on merit or worthiness. He was a good man, who will be missed dearly by family and friends, but this pardon is being sought because it is just and right to clear a conviction that is not supported by evidence with the new information that has come to light since Floyd’s conviction.”
The Harris County Public Defender’s office cited the unnamed “second suspect” in Floyd’s arrest as questionable after Goines admitted to making up a confidential informant on at least one occasion.
“There was no confidential informant,” he wrote in 2019. “I screwed up because I made a buy without the correct manpower out there.”
Floyd died in late May 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest following the suspected use of a counterfeit bill. Bystander video showed Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe before going limp, and he was later declared dead at a hospital. Chauvin has since been convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
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Chauvin’s sentencing hearing is set for July, and the charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Floyd’s death led to widespread protests and numerous riots, and the country had several episodes of looting and violence against law enforcement throughout the summer.
The Harris County Public Defender’s Office did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
