The former police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes was found guilty last month of murder and homicide.
A lawyer for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has called for a new trial, two weeks after Chauvin was released. convicted of second-degree and third-degree homicide and homicide in the murder of George Floyd.
In a series of motions filed Tuesday with District Court Judge Peter Cahill, Eric Nelson said the former officer was deprived of a fair trial, citing alleged tax and jury misdemeanors, miscarriages of law at trial and that the verdict it was against the law.
“Advertising here was so widespread and so damaging before and during this trial that it caused a structural flaw in the procedure,” Nelson wrote in the motion, CNN reported.
Floyd’s murder was captured on camera and provoked mass protests in the United States and around the world, with thousands taking to the streets to demand an end to police violence and racial injustice.
Chauvin’s conviction on April 20 had been welcomed by both activists and politicians in the US, which he said was an important step forward in the fight for justice.
Chauvin, with whom he was filmed on May 25 last year the knee to Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, faces at least 75 years in prison, and perhaps more if the judge finds aggravating circumstances requested by the prosecution. His sentence is set for June.
Following the news that Chauvin is seeking a new trial, the Floyd family’s lawyer, Ben Crump he tweeted: “No. No. No. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”
During the trial, Nelson had argued that jurors could be influenced by news of the trial, including politicians’ comments on what could happen as a result of the verdict.
Judge Cahill had rejected these arguments but he asked the jurors to avoid seeing the news. The jury was kidnapped after the final arguments of the case were made.
In his motion Tuesday, Nelson alleged that the jury committed misconduct, felt pressured and / or did not follow the jury’s instructions, although the presentation did not include details about that statement.
The paper did not mention recent reports that one of the jurors participated in an Aug. 28 march in Washington, DC, to honor Martin Luther King Jr. This jury has defended his actions, saying the event was not a protest over Floyd’s death.
Mike Hanna, of Al Jazeera, a Washington informant, said Chauvin’s lawyer says there were multiple issues with the trial, including the the judge refused to move the premises of Minneapolis.
“It is now up to the Minneapolis district court to decide whether or not to proceed with this complaint or investigate it later,” he reported.
Hanna added that an appeal was not unexpected, but said that “this is such a prominent case that it ignited so many emotions, that any attempt to overthrow this verdict will have a deep public concern.”
Last week, prosecutors had asked the judge overseeing the case against Chauvin to consider several aggravating circumstances when sentencing the former police officer.
Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison and Attorney General Matthew Frank said Chauvin deserves a harsher sentence than state guidelines dictate because he held a position of authority and treated Floyd cruelly, a vulnerable victim.
The defendant’s “acts caused gratuitous pain and caused psychological distress to Mr. Floyd and the spectators,” prosecutors wrote, adding that Chauvin made “no attempt” to provide medical attention to Floyd.
