Topics: News, Politics, Crime, George Floyd, Racism
Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd, has filed an appeal to the State Supreme Court to review his murder conviction.
CNN reported that Chauvin’s attorneys claimed to the Minnesota State Supreme Court that the cop was unfairly prosecuted after he was denied to move the trial to a different city.
According to court documents, his lawyers also said the trial was unfair due to the intense media scrutiny.
The Minnesota Supreme Court has not yet revealed whether they would move ahead with proceedings.
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It comes one month after an appeals court denied Chauvin’s request for a new trial.
In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd after kneeling on the man’s neck for nine minutes.
In a sentencing hearing at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Judge Peter Cahill ruled that the former police officer would serve the hefty sentence for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter.
CNN reported that the time that Judge Cahill ruled four of five factors put forward by the prosecution could be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
That including that Chauvin abused a position of trust and authority, treated Floyd with particular cruelty, committed the crime as a group with the active participation of at least three other people; and that children were present during the offense.
Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Attorney General whose office brought the case to trial, told reporters that the outcome was ‘one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force’, as per The Guardian.
He added it was ‘another moment of real accountability on the road to justice’.
“My hope for Derek Chauvin is that he uses his long sentence to reflect on his choices and his life,” Ellison said.
“My hope is that he will be able to find it within himself to acknowledge the impact of his choices on George Floyd, his family, his fellow police officers, and the world.”
Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota echoed a similar sentiment, adding while the pain the former cop elicited can never be 'erased', the verdict was a step in the right direction for global change.
“To the victims, their families, and to the broader community: although the harm that Chauvin caused will never be erased, today’s sentence of more than 20 years in prison represents a measure of justice and accountability,” he said.
