ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A lawyer for Derek Chauvin plans to ask an appeals court Wednesday to overturn the former Minneapolis police officer’s convictions for the murder of George Floyd, arguing that numerous legal and procedural errors made him a fair deprived process.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pinned the black man to the ground with his knee on the back of his neck for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death sparked protests around the world and forced a painful national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in prison, which he is now serving in Arizona, concurrent with his state sentence.
While Chauvin waived his right to appeal under his federal plea deal, he continued to appeal his murder convictions in state court. Even if he wins his appeal, his federal sentence will keep him in prison longer than his state sentence likely would because he would be eligible for parole earlier in the state system. But a successful appeal could set a precedent for future cases involving police officers.
Chauvin’s attorney for the appeal is William Mohrman, who often pursues conservative causes, including challenging President Joe Biden’s election victory and COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Mohrman argued in his letter to the Minnesota Court of Appeals that pre-trial publicity was more extensive than any other trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial elsewhere and allowed the jury to run for the duration have to isolate. Mohrman wrote that the publicity, combined with the riots, the city’s $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family that was announced during jury selection, increased the turmoil over a police killing in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection. jury and the courthouse’s unprecedented security were just a few of the factors biased. Chauvin’s chance at a fair trial.
He also argued that Cahill wrongly excluded evidence that might favor Chauvin, and accused prosecutors of wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said in their briefing that Chauvin had a fair trial and received a just sentence.
Prosecutors — including Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank and Neal Katyal, who served as U.S. Attorney General during the Obama administration — argued that Chauvin’s rights were not violated.
They said pre-trial publicity had blanketed the state, making it pointless to change venues, and that Cahill took extensive steps to ensure the selection of impartial jurors. They also said he had taken sufficient measures to protect the jurors from outside influences so that it was not necessary to isolate them for deliberations.
Other disputes in the appeal include whether it was legal to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder, and whether Cahill was justified in exceeding the 12 1/2 years recommended under state sentencing guidelines.
Three other officers who were present at Floyd’s murder — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane — were convicted of federal civil rights charges last February and are serving their sentences in out-of-state federal prisons.
Lane and Kueng accepted plea deals to state charges of complicity in manslaughter and are serving concurrent sentences. But Thao refused to plead guilty. Lawyers for both sides agreed to let Cahill decide Thao’s guilt based on stipulated evidence. That verdict is pending, as is his federal appeal.
