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Attorneys representing former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin filed a request Monday (April 25) to have his conviction in the murder of George Floyd overturned.
According to reports, Chauvin's legal team specifically asked the Minnesota appeals court to do one of three things: reverse his conviction, reverse the conviction and approve him a new trial in a different city, or send the case back to the lower court to re-sentence him.
Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of murdering Floyd during a May 2020 arrest in Minneapolis. A jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Judge Peter Cahill sentenced the former police sergeant to 22 and half years in prison. Chauvin also pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges in the case.
Chauvin's lawyers claimed in the 72-page court filing that pretrial publicity and the threat of widespread protests if Chauvin was found not guilty prevented him from getting a fair trial.
"The overwhelming media coverage exposed jurors -- literally every day -- to news demonizing Chauvin and glorifying Floyd, which was more than sufficient to presume prejudice," the document reads in part.
Lawyers also said that "the real problem is that the jurors expressed concern for (i) their families' personal safety." They argued that the threat of violence was "extreme" and noted that because jurors weren't sequestered in the case, they saw these threats every day during the trial.
"The courthouse was surrounded with barbed wire and soldiers during the trial," the document said. "Prior to jury deliberations, National Guard troops were deployed throughout Minneapolis, businesses boarded up their buildings and schools were closed 'bracing for a riot' in the event of Chauvin's acquittal," the document said.
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