The Supreme Court will not hear Derek Chauvin’s appeal of the conviction for the murder of George Floyd

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

A Minnesota judge sentenced Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison after being convicted in April 2021 of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin appealed his conviction, claiming that his right to a fair trial was violated.

Protests swept the country in May 2020 after a video circulated online of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Chauvin’s motion to change venue was denied by the trial court.

His lawyers argued that the judge should have accepted the request to move the trial due to prior publicity. Media coverage before the trial “relentless and demonized Mr. Chauvin,” the petition notes.

“Mr. Chauvin’s case shows the profound difficulty trial courts have in ensuring a criminal defendant’s right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise,” his lawyers wrote in their request. “That was especially true here when the jurors themselves had a vested interest in finding Mr. Chauvin guilty in order to prevent further disturbance in the community in which they lived and the potential threat of physical harm to themselves or their families.”

The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld Chauvin’s conviction in April, seconds on CBS News.

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