The US Supreme Court rejects the appeal of the expolie Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of his conviction for the 2020 killing of George Floyd during an arrest , which sparked widespread protests against police brutality and racism.

The justices rejected Chauvin’s appeal after a Minnesota appeals court upheld his 2021 murder conviction and denied his request for a new trial. Chauvin had argued that the bias of the jury and certain rulings of the presiding judge deprived him of his right to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Chauvin, who is white, is serving a 22-and-a-half-year prison sentence for killing Floyd, who was black, by kneeling on a handcuffed Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest.

Floyd’s killing sparked protests in many cities in the United States and other countries and focused attention on the issue of racial justice.

Chauvin, now 47, was found guilty by a 12-member jury in April 2021 of three counts of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter after a three-week trial that included the testimony of 45 witnesses, including bystanders, police officers. and medical experts.

The guilty verdict marked a landmark in America’s tense racial history and a rebuke of law enforcement’s treatment of black Americans.

In a confrontation captured on video by onlookers on May 25, 2020, Chauvin drove his knee into the neck of Floyd, 46, as Chauvin and three fellow officers attempted to arrest Floyd, who was accused of using a $20 fake to buy cigarettes. in a grocery store.

On appeal in 2022, Chauvin’s attorney, William Mohrman, argued that Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill made several errors.

Because of extensive pretrial publicity, the judge should have granted Chauvin’s motions to move the trial out of Minneapolis and sequester the jury, Mohrman argued.

Chauvin’s judge, lawyers and prosecutors spent about two weeks questioning potential jurors before seating the 12-member panel.

Chauvin’s lawyer urged the Supreme Court to accept the appeal to consider whether jurors had been biased by a desire to avoid “the threat of harm to the community if a guilty verdict were not reached.” . His attorney also said a juror may have concealed potential bias by failing to disclose during the jury selection process that he had attended “an anti-police ‘George Floyd’ demonstration.”

Minnesota lawyers did not respond to Chauvin’s petition asking the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals in April rejected Chauvin’s appeal, upholding his conviction and denying his request for a new trial. The Minnesota Supreme Court in July denied Chauvin’s request to review the case, prompting his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Separately, Chauvin in December 2021 pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that he violated Floyd’s civil rights. On Nov. 13, Chauvin filed a motion to overturn that conviction based on what he claims is new evidence showing Floyd’s death was the result of an underlying illness.

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