Key takeaways:
- Derek Chauvin’s attorney argued in an appeals court that legal and procedural errors deprived his client of a fair trial.
- Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
- The appeals court did not immediately rule on Chauvin’s attorney’s request to overturn the conviction.
On Wednesday, an attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd, argued in an appeals court that legal and procedural errors deprived his client of a fair trial.
William Mohrman, Chauvin’s attorney, argued before a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals that the trial judge should have moved the case out of Minneapolis due to the extensive pretrial publicity and unprecedented security measures.
Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, a Black man, on May 25, 2020. Chauvin had pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes.
Floyd’s death sparked protests around the world and forced a national conversation about police brutality and racism. The jury in Chauvin’s trial deliberated for 10 hours before returning a guilty verdict on all three counts.
The appeals court did not immediately rule on Chauvin’s attorney’s request to overturn the conviction. The court is expected to issue a written opinion in the coming weeks.
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