It is above all a symbolic call. Derek Chauvin, the ex-policeman who killed African-American George Floyd and set the United States on fire in 2020, has been trying since Wednesday to have his murder conviction overturned in Minnesota justice. But whatever happens, he will remain 21 years behind bars, because he had pleaded guilty to having violated the civil rights of George Floyd in a second part before federal justice, with a sentence, it, final.
Derek Chauvin, 46, was convicted of murder by a northern Minnesota state court following a high-profile trial in 2021 and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. . He believes that his rights to a fair trial have been violated, particularly given the “publicity” surrounding the case and the “threats of violence” which should have led to a change of scenery at the hearings, and calls for the verdict to be quashed.
“Demonized”
During the trial in the local court, his lawyer pleaded that George Floyd died of an overdose, combined with health problems, and assured that Derek Chauvin had made justified use of force. Today, the former police officer seeks to invalidate this trial, especially because it was held in the twin cities of Minneapolis-Saint-Paul, which were still on edge less than a year after the tragedy.
In their request, his lawyers recall “the threats” made against the jurors, the fear of a new conflagration of the two cities in the event of an acquittal, and the daily local media coverage which “idealised George Floyd and demonized Derek Chauvin”.
Prosecutors counter, in a separate argument, that the trial was “one of the most accurate and transparent” in history, that jury selection lasted two weeks and that the verdict must be confirmed. The Court is expected to issue its decision in three months.
