Derek Chauvin appeals murder conviction in George Floyd case because 'he was ... trends now
Derek Chauvin has asked the Minnesota Appeals Court to toss out his murder conviction for George Floyd's death, claiming he was denied a fair trial.
Chauvin's attorney, William Mohrman, argued Wednesday that because video and reports of Floyd's death were so widely publicized, kicking off nationwide protests, the jury was essentially 'poisoned.'
'You can't hold a trial in a community where the jurors are looking at the possibility of a riot in the event the jury acquits the defendant,' Mohrman said.
The defense is also demanding that the court assign a new venue for a new trial.
Chauvin was sentenced to 22- and-a-half-years in prison for the murder of Floyd, and last July, he was given another 21 years on federal charges of civil rights violations.
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22- and-a-half-years in prison for the murder of Floyd after pressing his knee against his neck for more than nine minutes
In his arguments on Wednesday morning, Mohrman said the unprecedented publicity surrounding the trial led to prejudices forming over Chauvin's case.
Mohrman and his team counted more than 1,000 stories and articles from local media stations naming Chauvin, claiming the coverage was 'overwhelmingly hostile' for the defendant.
Video of the Minneapolis police officer pinning Floyd to the ground with the cop's knee on the man's neck was widely circulated.
Floyd's final words, 'I can't breathe,' also became the slogan for the Black Lives Matter movement that erupted nationwide.
Although the majority of protests were peaceful, the defense noted that a demonstration in Minneapolis devolve into a riot that claimed two lives and saw 'property damage exceeded $500,000,000–the second most destructive riots in American history.'
Other factors that led to an allegedly unfair trial, the defense attorney said, included the city's $27 million settlement
