Chauvin Appeals for New Trial in Floyd Case
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has submitted an appeal for a new trial regarding the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin filed his petition in Hennepin County District Court last month. He claims that his conviction should be overturned due to flawed medical testimonies and misrepresentations concerning police training. He also pointed out that errors in the jury instructions could justify a retrial.
In his appeal, Chauvin argues that the four doctors who assessed the medical examiner’s report relied excessively on video evidence. This footage showed officers restraining Floyd, during which Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and bystanders expressed their concerns.
“In this case, improperly qualified experts opined on the events in the various videos, leading to numerous errors,” the appeal notes. “This deprived Mr. Chauvin of his right to due process.”
Additionally, Chauvin mentioned that he brought in a doctor to a forensic panel who testified that the methodologies used by the doctors at his trial were “not generally accepted in the scientific community.”
Chauvin also challenged the accounts of three Minneapolis police supervisors who testified under oath about the tactic of placing a knee on a suspect’s neck, stating that such restraint contradicts city police policy. However, his filing claimed that 34 current and former Minneapolis police officers have provided sworn statements asserting that the knee tactic is part of their training and consistent with department policy.
His request for a new trial in 2023 was denied. Following his conviction, Chauvin has been incarcerated in a low-security prison in Big Spring, Texas. He is serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd’s civil rights and a 22-and-a-half year state sentence for second-degree murder.
During the closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Chauvin failed to uphold his badge during the nine minutes he knelt on Floyd’s neck, suggesting he prioritized his own pride over his role as a police officer.
