A lawyer for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has requested a new trial, two weeks after he was convicted of murdering George Floyd, a black man, in May last.
In a document filed to District Court Judge Peter Cahill on Tuesday, Eric Nelson said the ex-officer was deprived of a fair trial, citing alleged prosecutorial and jury misconduct, errors of law at the trial and that the verdict was contrary to law.
“The publicity here was so pervasive and so prejudicial before and during this trial that it amounted to a structural defect in the proceedings,” Nelson wrote.
Chauvin’s conviction on April 20 had been welcomed by activists and politicians, who said it was an important step forward in the fight for racial justice in the US.
Floyd’s murder on May 25 last year was captured on camera and led to mass protests across the US and around the world, with thousands taking to the streets to demand an end to police violence against Black people.
Chauvin, filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, faces at least 75 years in prison – and potentially more if the judge finds aggravating factors sought by the prosecution. His sentencing has been set for June.
After news broke that Chauvin is seeking a new trial, Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump tweeted: “No. No. No. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”
During the trial, Nelson had argued that the jurors could be influenced by the news surrounding the trial, including comments by politicians on what might happen as a result of the verdict.
Judge Cahill had rejected those arguments but asked jurors to avoid watching the news. The jury was sequestered after the closing arguments were made in the case.
In his motion on Tuesday, Nelson alleged the jury committed misconduct, felt pressured, and/or failed to adhere to jury instructions, although the filing did not include further details about those claims.
The brief did not mention recent reports that one of the jurors participated in an August 28 march in Washington, DC, to honour Martin Luther King Jr. That juror has defended his actions, saying the event was not a protest over Floyd’s death.
Mary Moriarty, a former chief public defender in Minneapolis who now teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School, noted the grounds were vague and the defence had asked for more time to develop their points on alleged juror misconduct.
“This is a standard motion that defence lawyers would typically make after a conviction in a trial,” she said.
Prosecutors last week had asked the judge overseeing the case against Chauvin to consider several aggravating circumstances when he sentences the former police officer.
State of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and lead prosecutor Matthew Frank said that Chauvin deserves a sentence stiffer than the state guidelines dictate because he held a position of authority and treated Floyd, a vulnerable victim, with cruelty.
The “defendant’s actions inflicted gratuitous pain, and caused psychological distress to Mr. Floyd and to the bystanders”, the prosecutors wrote, adding that Chauvin made “no attempt” to give Floyd medical attention.
