After years and years of riots and looting and destruction and hate, Americans were hoping the George Floyd saga was finally behind us after Derek Chauvin, the cop who killed him, was found guilty in court. Bad news, America! We were wrong…
On Monday Chauvin filed a request to have his conviction reversed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, according to The Associated Press. He asked for the court to either order a resentencing or grant a new trial in a new venue.
The brief, filed by Chauvin’s lawyer William Mohrman, said, “The overwhelming media coverage exposed the jurors — literally every day — to news demonizing Chauvin and glorifying Floyd which was more than sufficient to presume prejudice.”
Mohrman said that multiple jurors expressed during jury selection that they feared for their safety in the case that Chauvin was acquitted and were intimidated by the security measures at the court house to keep protesters out.
He continued by noting that $27 million awarded to the Floyd family over the killing which was reported in the middle of the Chauvin trial. The lawyer claimed this could have led the jurors to believe Chauvin was guilty in his criminal trial as well.
The brief also cited the shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer in the same area during the trial as inflaming the situation and said jurors should have been sequestered at that point to protect them from biased reporting.
Mohrman made multiple allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. He claimed untimely sharing of evidence, failure to disclose and document dumping by the government made the trial unfair.
The filing also put the onus on the judge of the case and said his claim that “abuse of a position of authority” as an aggravating sentencing factor should not have been applicable.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Derek Chauvin to 22 1/2 years in prison last June for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his role in the death of George Floyd.
Floyd was arrested in 2020 after being caught spending a counterfeit $20 bill at a gas station while intoxicated. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes, ignoring cries that he was unable to breath from both the victim and passersby, which ultimately resulted in the death of Floyd.
It’s hard to argue that Derek Chauvin didn’t act inappropriately when his actions led to the death of George Floyd. It’s also hard to argue that the media and political forces in the country didn’t do everything in their power to influence the outcome of the trial. Do you believe Derek Chauvin deserves a retrial? Do you think it will change the outcome?
