Supreme Court spurns Derek Chauvin’s appeal of George Floyd verdict

The Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his second-degree murder conviction in the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

Chauvin was found guilty by a state court in April 2021 and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison in connection with Floyd’s May 25, 2020, death, which triggered riots across the country and a prolonged debate on race relations in America.

The high court did not specify why it declined to take up the appeal and did not indicate whether any justices would have heard the case.

Chauvin, now 47, is also appealing his conviction and 21-year sentence on separate federal charges in connection with Floyd’s death. Those punishments were not considered by the high court.

The ex-cop’s lawyers had argued their client was denied a fair trial due to the publicity surrounding the case and concerns about potential violence if he was acquitted.

“Mr. Chauvin’s case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendant’s right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise,” Chauvin’s legal team told the Supreme Court.

“This was particularly true here when the jurors themselves 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.”

Approximately nine minutes of harrowing cellphone footage showed Chauvin placing his knee on Floyd’s neck despite pleas from the 46-year-old black man that he couldn’t breath.

Floyd was being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill when Chauvin confronted him. A medical examiner concluded that recent methamphetamine and fentanyl use may have contributed to his death as well.

Chauvin’s legal team had argued his case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, but that court upheld his conviction back in April and declined to give him a new trial.

Then in July, the highest court in Minnesota upheld the lower court rulings, which led to the request to the Supreme Court.

The nine-member Supreme Court receives somewhere around 7,000 case requests on average every year and typically only accepts between 90 and 150 of them.