SCOTUS Declines to Hear Derek Chauvin Appeal for George Floyd’s Death
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal for a new trial after he argued that his conviction for the murder of George Floyd took place at a time of political chaos and pressure.
Chauvin’s legal team filed the appeal after a Minnesota court rejected his request for a new trial, upholding his conviction. The former officer’s attorneys argued that jury bias and previous rulings made by the presiding judge violated his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. In their request for appeal, his lawyers told the court that the jurors “had a vested interest in finding Mr. Chauvin guilty in order to avoid further rioting in the community in which they lived and the possible threat of physical harm to them or their families.”
On May 25, 2020, Chauvin and three other officers were attempting to arrest Floyd who was accused of using a counterfeit bill to purchase cigarettes at a nearby convenience store. Floyd was under the influence of fentanyl and was resisting arrest, leading to Chauvin’s decision to place his knee on Floyd’s neck, restraining him. The controversial move was seen as a strangulation by many onlookers.
In April of 2021, Chauvin was convicted by a 12-member jury on three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter. Prosecutors from Hennepin County urged jurors to “believe [their] eyes” after watching footage of the incident, and resolve to convict Chauvin, according to CNN. The former police officer was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison after the arrest of career criminal Floyd went awry, resulting in Floyd’s death and sparking several months of destructive protests around the nation.
Recently disclosed court documents obtained in the discovery phase of a separate lawsuit among Hennepin County attorneys revealed that immense public pressure played a significant role in Chauvin’s conviction, as well as the convictions of his fellow officers who were at the scene of Floyd’s arrest.
Amy Sweasy, who was one of the attorneys’ office’s top prosecutors, filed a lawsuit against former County Attorney Mike Freeman, accusing him of sex discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. Sweasy was one of four attorneys who disagreed with Freeman’s decision to try the other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest, and Senior Assistant County Attorney Patrick Lofton explained in his depositions that “The Chauvin stuff is the catalyst of this,” referring to Sweasy’s lawsuit against Freeman.
Lofton also said, “There was extreme premium pressure, yes. The city was burning down,” which was a result of the Black Lives Matter protests that Floyd’s death had sparked.
Sweasy said in her deposition that Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker told her that “there were no medical findings that showed any injury to the vital structures of Mr. Floyd’s neck,” the day following Floyd’s death.
“There were no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation,” the examiner reportedly said, despite this being the primary charge against Derek Chauvin.
“He said to me, ‘Amy, what happens when the actual evidence doesn’t match up with the public narrative that everyone’s already decided on?’ And then he said, ‘This is the kind of case that ends careers,’” Sweasy’s deposition transcript reads.
The fact that Floyd was under the influence of a high dosage of fentanyl at the time of his death, and his hypertensive heart disease, has been attributed to his shortness of breath at the time of his arrest, possibly explaining why he cried out “I can’t breathe” several times. Jurors were aware of this at the time of Chauvin’s trial and explained in an interview with CNN after the ex-cop’s conviction, “This is not what he did, but more or less what he didn’t do.”
In 2021, CNN spoke with several jurors who were involved in convicting Chauvin. One juror, Jodi Doud, recalled asking the others during their deliberative process, “Wait a minute. Does the intended act of harm have to be the death of George Floyd, or can it be him not providing the life support?” Another jury member, Nicole Deters, referred to the question as a “light bulb” moment for the undecided jurors which led to Chauvin’s conviction of murder.
