(NewsInsights.org) – In April 2021, a Minneapolis-based jury found former officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder in the May 25, 2020, death of 46-year-old George Floyd while in police custody. In June 2021, Judge Peter Cahill sentenced the former lawman to 22.5 years. On Monday, November 20, the Supreme Court refused to hear Chauvin’s appeal, leaving his conviction and sentence in place.
A bystander’s viral video of the crime, taken on a cell phone, caused an already tense nation to explode into protests and riots against racial injustice and police brutality. With three other police officers on the scene, the video showed Chauvin, a white police officer, kneeling on black suspect Floyd’s neck to subdue him despite Floyd’s protests that he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin maintained his position for more than nine minutes, causing Floyd to experience respiratory failure, leading to his death.
In April 2023, Chauvin and his counsel brought his appeal before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, arguing that Cahill had refused to change the venue of his trial from Minneapolis. The defendant claimed Cahill’s decision deprived him of the right to a fair and impartial jury because pretrial publicity and potential threats of civil unrest or personal harm tainted the jury pool and jurors’ decision.
The Minnesota Appellate Court rejected his appeal and request for a new trial. Presiding Judge Peter Reyes wrote the 50-page opinion for the three-judge panel. He reminded Chauvin, “no one is above the law,” and when police officers act illegally, the law must hold them to account, just like it does with the suspects they apprehend.
In October 2023, Chauvin’s legal team asked the Supreme Court to hear their client’s case, arguing it showed “the profound difficulties trial courts have” ensuring impartial juries “when extreme cases arise.” However, the High Court declined to hear the case.
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