The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek ChauvinB次元官网网址檚 second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and his 22 1/2-year sentence remains in place.
ChauvinB次元官网网址檚 attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officerB次元官网网址檚 convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity. He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black manB次元官网网址檚 neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. A bystander video captured FloydB次元官网网址檚 fading cries of B次元官网网址淚 canB次元官网网址檛 breathe.B次元官网网址� FloydB次元官网网址檚 death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
B次元官网网址淧olice officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law,B次元官网网址� Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel. B次元官网网址淲hen they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.B次元官网网址�
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who assembled the prosecution team, said in a statement that he was B次元官网网址済rateful we have a system where everyone, no matter how egregious their offense, is entitled to due process and fair treatment.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he CourtB次元官网网址檚 decision today shows once again no one is above the law B次元官网网址� and no one is beneath it,B次元官网网址� Ellison said.
A voicemail and emails were sent to ChauvinB次元官网网址檚 attorney, William Mohrman. He argued on appeal that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis because of extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security precautions due to fears of violence.
B次元官网网址淭he primary issue on this appeal is whether a criminal defendant can get a fair trial consistent with constitutional requirements in a courthouse surrounded by concrete block, barbed wire, two armored personnel carriers, and a squad of National Guard troops, all of which or whom are there for one purpose: in the event that the jury acquits the defendant,B次元官网网址� Mohrman said in oral arguments in January.
But Neal Katyal, a special attorney for the state, argued that Chauvin got B次元官网网址渙ne of the most transparent and thorough trials in our nationB次元官网网址檚 history.B次元官网网址�
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 22 1/2 years after jurors found him guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin later pleaded guilty to a separate federal civil rights charge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison, which he is now serving in Arizona concurrent with his state sentence.
B次元官网网址淛udge Cahill managed this trial with enormous care, and even if Chauvin could identify some minor fault, any error is harmless,B次元官网网址� Katyal said. B次元官网网址淭he evidence of ChauvinB次元官网网址檚 guilt was captured on video for the world to see.B次元官网网址�
Mohrman argued that the pretrial publicity was the most extensive of any trial in Minnesota history, and that the judge should have moved the trial and sequestered the jury. He said the publicity and the riots, the cityB次元官网网址檚 $27 million settlement with FloydB次元官网网址檚 family announced during jury selection, the unrest over a police killing of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb during jury selection, and the sealing off of the courthouse, were just some of the factors prejudicing ChauvinB次元官网网址檚 chance of a fair trial.
His appeal also focused on one juror who participated in a civil rights event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.B次元官网网址檚 March on Washington, a few months after FloydB次元官网网址檚 death. Only after the trial did the juror reveal that he had been there.
But the appeals court ruled that Cahill did not abuse his discretion in deciding those issues.
The appeals court declined to address whether it was legally permissible to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder. The defense said a 2021 Minnesota Supreme Court decision in a different police killing case that clarified the definition of that crime meant the law no longer fit the facts of FloydB次元官网网址檚 killing. But the appeals court noted that the trial judge never formally adjudicated that conviction nor did he sentence Chauvin on that count.
By Steve Karnowski
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