Minneapolis, Minnesota - The prosecution and the defense gave their opening arguments on Monday in the trial for three ex-cops accused of complicity in the murder of George Floyd.

The three defendants, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, have been accused of failing to intervene as their colleague, Derek Chauvin, brutally pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for over nine minutes. Chauvin was found guilty of murder in June.

At the time, Kueng was kneeling on Floyd's back, Lane was holding his legs, and Thao was preventing bystanders from stepping in.

The defense has argued that Floyd was using drugs, the area was one of high crime, and that Kueng and Lane were just rookies. Attorneys also pointed out Chauvin was the ranking officer on the scene, and that he was the one to "call all of the shots," the Associated Press reported.

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The prosecution countered that officers have the duty to intervene if they witness a fellow officer engaging in misconduct, saying that even new recruits receive this training. They showed body camera footage of the officers' actions and are expected to show more as the trial progresses.

"We will ask you to hold these men accountable for choosing to do nothing and watch a man die," said Samantha Trepel of the Justice Department’s civil rights division.

But convictions in cases of failure to intervene are rare. The prosecution must prove that Kueng, Lane, and Thao knew what they were doing was wrong, but went along with it anyway.

The Associated Press reported that of the 18 jurors selected last week, including six alternates, two appear to be of Asian descent while the rest appear to be white, but no official demographic information has been released.

US District Judge Paul Magnuson reportedly said the trial could last four weeks.