A lawyer for former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin says he and his client will now turn to the U.S. Supreme Court to request it hear their appeal after Minnesota's Supreme Court denied Chauvin's request for it to review his murder conviction in the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
"Based upon all the files, records and proceedings, herein, it is hereby ordered that the petition of Derek Michael Chauvin for further review is denied," wrote Chief Justice Lorie Gildea in a one line order filed on Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported.
The court denied the request without comment, leaving Chauvin's conviction and 22 and one-half year prison sentence remaining in place.
Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd over three years ago after he was seen by witnesses and in video pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for just under 10 minutes, pinning him down on a street outside of a convenience store after Floyd was accused of trying to pay with a counterfeit $20 bill.
In the video Floyd can be heard saying repeatedly, "I can't breathe."
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An attorney for Chauvin, Greg Erickson, said Chauvin's "right to a fair trial" under the U.S. constitution was violated at the state level.
William Mohrman, also an attorney for Chauvin, said they were "obviously disappointed" at the high court's decision not to hear the appeal. They said a significant issue they argued in their appeal request was if holding the trial in Minneapolis in 2021 violated Chauvin's right to a fair trial due to all the publicity around the case.
They intend to raise these issues with the U.S. Supreme Court next.
