Derek Chauvin APPEALS his conviction for murdering George Floyd

Derek Chauvin on Wednesday filed an appeal against his conviction for murdering George Floyd, arguing that he was deprived of a fair trial by the decision not to move proceedings to another city. 

Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of killing Floyd in May 2020.

The former Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck during arrest, despite Floyd’s pleas that he could not breathe.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison, in June 2021, and has since then been behind bars in Arizona. 

On Wednesday, Chauvin filed a case before Minnesota Supreme Court claiming that he was not given a fair trial. 

The petition came a month after Chauvin lost his appeal before the Minnesota Court of Appeals. 

Chauvin is seen during his sentencing, on June 25, 2021. He was also found guilty of the federal crime of depriving Floyd of his civil rights, and is serving his sentence in federal prison

His attorney, William Mohrman, argued that the conviction was unfair for multiple reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity and the intense public feeling in the city of Minneapolis. 

Floyd was murdered by Chauvin after he used a fake bank note in a Minneapolis bodega, and police were called

But the three-judge panel last month sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence. 

His latest appeal reprises several of the same arguments.

‘We’re very hopeful that the Minnesota Supreme Court will accept review of the case,’ Mohrman said. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court could agree to hear Chauvin’s appeal, in which case it would ask each side for detailed briefs and later set a date for oral arguments. 

Or it could decline to take the case, and let the Court of Appeals ruling stand. 

Morhman wrote in the petition that the case presents the state Supreme Court with important questions on ‘developing and clarifying due process requirements to transfer venue when there is unprecedented pervasive pretrial publicity coupled with community violence.’

People gather at the unveiling of artist Kenny Altidor’s memorial portrait of George Floyd painted on a storefront sidewall of CTown Supermarket in Brooklyn, New York in July 2020

Chauvin was also sentenced to 21 years in federal prison last year, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence. He is pictured in mugshots released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections in December 2021

He also wrote that it raises issues about rules regarding juror misconduct. 

One juror participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, D.C., a few months after Floyd’s death. 

Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there. 

The Court of Appeals declined to send the case back to the trial judge for a hearing on whether the juror’s nondisclosure constituted misconduct.

Chauvin pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.

‘Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law,’ Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the Court of Appeals last month. 

‘When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. 

‘The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. 

‘Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.’