MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has declined to hear the case, his attorney said Wednesday.
The state鈥檚 highest court without comment denied Chauvin鈥檚 petition in a one-page order dated Tuesday, letting Chauvin鈥檚 conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence stand. Chauvin faces long odds at the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears only about 100 to 150 appeals of the more than 7,000 cases it is asked to review every year.
after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd鈥檚 fading cries of 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥 Floyd鈥檚 death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national
Chauvin's attorney, William Morhman, told The Associated Press that they were 鈥渙bviously disappointed鈥 in the decision. He said the most significant issue on which they appealed was whether holding the proceedings in Minneapolis in 2021 deprived Chauvin of his right to a fair trial due to pretrial publicity and concerns for violence in the event of an acquittal. He said they will now raise that issue with the U.S. Supreme Court.
鈥淭his criminal trial generated the most amount of pretrial publicity in history,鈥 Morhman said. 鈥淢ore concerning are the riots which occurred after George Floyd鈥檚 death (and) led the jurors to all express concerns for their safety in the event they acquitted Mr. Chauvin 鈥 safety concerns which were fully evidenced by surrounding the courthouse in barbed wire and 春色直播 Guard troops during the trial and deploying the 春色直播 Guard throughout Minneapolis prior to jury deliberations.鈥
Morhman asked the Minnesota Supreme Court in May after the that he had been denied a fair trial. The in a response last month, asked the Supreme Court to let that ruling stand instead.
鈥淧etitioner received a fair trial, and received the benefit of a fulsome appellate review,鈥 prosecutors wrote at the time. 鈥淚t is time to bring this case to a close.鈥
Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that the state Supreme Court鈥檚 denial of review 鈥渕eans that the Court of Appeals was correct in finding that his trial was properly conducted and he was properly convicted under law. This development definitively holds Chauvin accountable and closes this chapter of the murder of George Floyd.鈥
Morhman to throw out the ex-officer鈥檚 conviction for a long list of reasons, including the decision by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill not to move the trial out of Minneapolis despite the massive pretrial publicity, and the potential prejudicial effects of unprecedented courthouse security.
After his conviction on the state charge, Chauvin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence. Three other former officers who assisted Chauvin are in the case.
Only still faces sentencing in state court. That's scheduled for Aug. 7. Thao and, instead of going to trial, let Cahill decide the case based on presented in previous trials.
Cahill convicted Thao in May of aiding and abetting manslaughter. Minnesota guidelines recommend four years on the manslaughter count, which Thao would serve concurrently with his 3 1/2-year federal sentence.
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This story was first published on July 19, 2023. It was updated on July 20, 2023, to correct the last name of Chauvin鈥檚 attorney. It is Morhman, not Mohrmann.
