It is above all a symbolic appeal. Derek Chauvin, the ex-cop who killed African American George Floyd and set the United States on fire in 2020, has been trying to overturn his murder conviction in the Minnesota judiciary since Wednesday. But whatever happens, he will remain behind bars for 21 years for pleading guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights in part two before federal justice, with a verdict that is final.
Derek Chauvin, 46, was found guilty of murder after a high-profile trial in 2021 by a northern Minnesota state court and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. He feels that his right to a fair trial has been violated, particularly given the “publicity” of the case and the “threats of violence” that should have led to a change of scenery at the hearings, and he is calling for the verdict to be overturned.
“demonized”
During the trial in the magistrates’ court, his attorney pleaded that George Floyd died of an overdose combined with health problems and asserted that Derek Chauvin had legitimately used violence. Today, the former police officer is trying to invalidate that trial, particularly because it took place in the twin cities of Minneapolis-Saint-Paul, which were still tense less than a year after the tragedy.
In their motion, his lawyers recall “the threats” against the jury, the fear of a new conflagration of the two cities in the event of an acquittal and the daily reporting in the local media that “idealized George Floyd and demonized Derek Chauvin”.
Prosecutors, in a separate argument, counter that the trial was “one of the most thorough and transparent” in history, jury selection took two weeks and the verdict must be confirmed. The court is expected to issue its decision in three months.