There’s another appeal from former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin’s lawyers have appealed his second-degree murder conviction for the 2020 killing of George Floyd to the Minnesota Supreme Court according to court documents that were filed May 17.
Chauvin was convicted in 2021 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death outside Cup Foods in South Minneapolis.
Floyd died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, despite the 43-year-old Black man asking for help, saying he couldn’t breathe.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld Chauvin’s second-degree murder conviction in April. Chauvin's lawyer William Mohrman had asked to have the conviction thrown out.
"We're very hopeful that the Minnesota Supreme Court will accept review of the case," Mohrman said.
The former officer is asking the Supreme Court to review that court’s decision. The document says that the district court “did not abuse its discretion by declining to transfer venues, delay the trial or sequester the jury amid pervasive pretrial publicity and community violence.”
They are also asking the court to review whether police officers “acting to effect lawful arrests can be convicted of second degree felony murder” with no intent to use “unreasonable force”.
That was previously rejected by the appeals court.
“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,” Judge Peter Reyes said in the appeals court decision.
The Minnesota Supreme Court could agree to hear Chauvin's appeal, in which case it would ask each side for detailed briefs and later set a date for oral arguments. Or it could let the Court of Appeals ruling stand.