The US Supreme Court declined to review former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s state convictions for the murder of George Floyd on Monday. Chauvin was found guilty of murdering Floyd in 2020, prompting nationwide protests against police brutality and reigniting the Black Lives Matter movement. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on his state convictions and a further 21 years in prison on a federal civil rights conviction, which was subsequently reduced to 20 years and 5 months.
The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari comes after the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to take up Chauvin’s appeal and chose to maintain the guilty verdict.
In his appeal, Chauvin challenged the Minnesota trial court’s denial of his request for a change in venue. Because of the publicity brought by Floyd’s death, Chauvin’s attorney William Mohrman stated that “Mr. Chauvin was denied a change of venue within the factual context of violent and destructive riots and threat of harm to the community if a guilty verdict was not reached.” Chauvin also asked the court to review a lower court’s decision to not hold a hearing to consider evidence of juror bias after the verdict. “Mr. Chauvin’s case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendant’s right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise,” said Mohrman.
The former police officer was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in May 2020. The conviction resulted from an incident captured on video that showed Floyd declaring “I can’t breathe” as Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.
Chauvin has previously appealed his convictions on several occasions while serving his sentence. Earlier this year, Chauvin requested a new trial or a reversal of his state conviction in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which was subsequently denied.
Last week, Chauvin filed a motion in federal court seeking to vacate his federal conviction. After corresponding with Kansas Pathologist Dr. William Schaetzel, Chauvin believes that he would not have pled guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights as Schaetzel claimed that the former officer did not cause Floyd’s death.
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