Lawyers for Derek Chauvin File Petition in Minnesota Supreme Court Appealing Conviction for George Floyd Murder

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over his sentencing in Minneapolis on June, 25, 2021. (Court TV via AP)

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in April 2021 of murdering George Floyd, has appealed his conviction, arguing that he was deprived of a fair trial.

His attorney, William Mohrman, filed a petition for review with the Minnesota Supreme Court on May 17, arguing that the district judge’s decision not to move the proceedings out of the city deprived his client of a fair trial.

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

In his petition, Morhman argued 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.”

He also noted that it raises issues regarding rules surrounding juror misconduct, pointing to one juror, Brandon Mitchell, who took part in a civil rights event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech delivered during the 1963 March in Washington, D.C.

A photograph from the event, posted on social media, showed Mitchel, who is black, wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. emblazoned with the words “Get your knee off our necks,” and “BLM,” (Black Lives Matter).

The juror only revealed that he attended the summer event after Chauvin’s trial concluded.

Floyd’s Death

However, the Court of Appeals declined to send the case back to the trial judge for a hearing on whether the juror’s failure to disclose his attendance at the event ahead of the trial amounted to misconduct.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed on May 25, 2020, by Chauvin during an arrest after Floyd allegedly tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill to purchase cigarettes.

Chauvin pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck for approximately nine-and-a-half minutes as Floyd lay handcuffed and face-down on the pavement.

Another officer, Thomas Lane, restrained his lower body, and Officer J. Alexander Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back.

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death in April 2021, and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

In July 2022, he was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for violating the civil rights of Floyd, a convicted felon, and is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence of murder and manslaughter.

Nationwide Protests

The latest petition comes a month after the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld Chauvin’s conviction for second-degree murder and let his 22.5-year sentence remain in place.

Chauvin’s attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer’s convictions, citing multiple reasons including the huge amount of publicity ahead of the trial and various legal and procedural errors that he argued deprived Chauvin of a fair trial.

The appeal proved to be unsuccessful and the three-judge panel ultimately agreed with prosecutors that Chauvin received a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd’s death triggered widespread left-wing demonstrations across the country, many of which were peaceful although others turned violent, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damage to some businesses from looting and arson.

According to a 2020 report from Axios, the destruction that occurred as a result of the demonstrations was estimated to cost at least $1 billion to $2 billion in paid insurance claims.

Many of the protests continued into early 2021 and prompted calls to defund the police, which some critics attribute to a significant rise in crime across a number of major metropolitan areas in the country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.