Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, has filed an appeal, arguing that he was deprived of a fair trial due to the decision not to move the proceedings to another city.
Chauvin’s conviction came in April 2021, following the May 2020 incident in which he knelt on Floyd’s neck during arrest, despite Floyd’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe. In June 2021, he was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison and has been incarcerated in Arizona since then.
On May 17, Chauvin submitted a case before the Minnesota Supreme Court, claiming that he did not receive a fair trial. This appeal comes after he lost a previous appeal before the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Chauvin’s attorney, William Mohrman, argued that the conviction was unfair for several reasons, including the extensive pretrial publicity and the strong sympathy towards Floyd in Minneapolis. However, last month, a three-judge panel sided with prosecutors, stating that Chauvin had indeed received a fair trial and an appropriate sentence.
The latest appeal reiterates many of the same arguments put forth previously. Mohrman expressed hope that the Minnesota Supreme Court would accept the case for review.
The Minnesota Supreme Court now has the option to hear Chauvin’s appeal. If accepted, both sides will be asked to submit detailed briefs, and a date for oral arguments will be set. Alternatively, the court may choose not to take the case, allowing the Court of Appeals ruling to stand.
In the petition, Mohrman stated that the case raises significant questions for the state Supreme Court regarding due process requirements for venue transfers when there is extensive pretrial publicity coupled with community violence.
He also highlighted concerns about juror misconduct rules, noting that one juror participated in a civil rights event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, D.C., a few months after Floyd’s death. The juror only disclosed this information after the trial had concluded but the Court of Appeals declined to send the case back to the trial judge for a hearing on whether the nondisclosure constituted misconduct.
It’s important to note that Chauvin has already pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and is serving a 21-year sentence in federal prison concurrent with his state sentence, currently in Arizona.
