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Federal prosecutors in Minnesota are reconsidering their decision to allow former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights, to reexamine George Floyd's heart as part of his appeal. They are asking the judge to do so.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson on Monday ordered Mr. Chauvin's defense team to include Mr. Floyd's heart tissue and tissue slides, photographs of his heart, and body fluids as the investigation looks into the possibility that Mr. Floyd died of heart disease. ordered to allow access to samples. Not Chauvin's actions.
In a 10-page motion for reconsideration filed Tuesday, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota argued that Chauvin has “no legal basis.” [his] The discovery requests all stem solely from emails he received from an unvetted doctor proposing a weaker medical defense than the version rejected by a jury in an earlier state trial. ”
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In this image taken from video, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin speaks in court at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis on June 25, 2021. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)
Prosecutors also disputed Chauvin's claim that he had an incompetent attorney at trial, saying the defense team's initial decision not to examine Floyd's heart was “virtually unchallenged” by the court. It was a strategic decision that he acknowledged.
But Magnuson said the evidence will help Chauvin's defense examine information from Dr. William Shetzel, who contacted Chauvin's first trial attorney, Eric Nelson, and said Floyd was not identified. It was claimed that he died of some type of heart attack.
Mr. Chauvin's new legal team said Mr. Nelson never told his client about the doctor's theory, and no tests were conducted to confirm it.
George Floyd died after an encounter with four Minneapolis police officers. (AP)
“Given the serious nature of the criminal case in which Mr. Chauvin was convicted and the potential for the findings sought by Mr. Chauvin to support Dr. Schetzel's version of Mr. Floyd's cause of death, the court… “We have determined that there is probable cause to grant this,” ordered Mr. Chauvin to receive the discovery he seeks,” Mr. Magnuson ordered Monday.
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read government documents filing
Experts told Fox News Digital that Chauvin's defense attorneys have a right to obtain the materials, regardless of whether they help him win his appeal.
“Chauvin should be given every opportunity to pursue his appeal like any other defendant,” said David Gellman, a Philadelphia-area criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. “If this were any other case, I'm sure the Department of Justice would not have objected.”
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Chauvin was also convicted of state murder in connection with the 2020 Memorial Day incident in which he appeared on video with his knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, sparking riots across the country. Ta.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW
Police body cameras show former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officer Derek Chauvin and former Metropolitan Police Department officer J. – George Floyd is shown kneeling next to Alexander Kueng. (MPD/Hennepin County District Court/Source via Reuters)
Nelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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After his conviction, another inmate stabbed Chauvin 22 times in a federal prison. The attack was said to be inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, which gained momentum after Floyd's death and has been criticized for violent demonstrations across the United States.
Chauvin was one of four officers who arrested Floyd on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill and refusing to cooperate with police at a coffee shop.
Chauvin's appeal of the state murder charge was rejected by the Supreme Court last year.
