Global Courant
Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 ½ years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 death of George Floyd. Chauvin has petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider his conviction. He claims that the lower courts already got it right. Prosecutors in the state are urging the state Supreme Court to deny Chauvin’s request, with one prosecutor writing, “It’s time to close this case.”
Prosecutors have urged the Minnesota Supreme Court to deny former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s request to reconsider his conviction for the murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin’s attorney last month asked the state’s highest court to hear the case after the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected his arguments that he was denied a fair trial. A three-judge panel in April upheld his manslaughter conviction and 22 1/2 years in prison. In a response filed Tuesday, the attorney general’s office asked the Supreme Court to let that ruling stand.
“Applicant was given a fair trial and was given the benefit of a full review on appeal,” the prosecutors wrote. “It’s time to wrap up this case.”
DEREK CHAUVIN APPEALS CONviction IN GEORGE FLOYD MURDER TO MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on the unarmed black man’s 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, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism that is still ongoing.
Defense attorney William Morhman has unsuccessfully asked the Court of Appeals to quash the ex-officer’s conviction due to a long list of reasons, including the decision of the examining magistrate not to move the proceedings from Minneapolis despite massive protests. publicity for the trial, and the possible adverse effects of unprecedented courthouse security.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, center, is taken into custody as his attorney watches after the verdicts are read at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 20, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)
Another issue was the revelation after Chauvin’s trial that a juror was participating in a civil rights event commemorating Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s march. in Washington, a few months after Floyd’s death. Chauvin reiterated several of those arguments in his latest appeal.
DEREK CHAUVIN, WHO IS PENNING FOR GEORGE FLOYD MURDER, MOVED TO FEDERAL PRISON
Prosecutors urged the Supreme Court not to give Chauvin a “do-over,” saying he received “one of the most thorough and transparent criminal proceedings in the history of this country.”
The Minnesota Supreme Court could uphold Chauvin’s appeal. If so, it would ask both sides for detailed instructions and set a date for oral argument later. Or it can let the Court of Appeal’s ruling be the last word.
Global Courant
Following his conviction on the state indictment, Chauvin pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in prison, which he is serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.
Three other former cops who helped Chauvin on the scene — a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill — are serving reduced sentences for their roles in the case.
