According to documents filed yesterday, Derek Chauvin seeks to appeal his conviction and sentence for George Floyd’s murder, claiming the judge misused his authority at important stages in the case.
In a court filing, the former Minneapolis cop stated that he intended to appeal on 14 grounds.
In his notice of appeal, Chauvin claims that Judge Peter Cahill abused his discretion by dismissing his request to have the trial moved out of Hennepin County due to pre-trial publicity.
Chauvin claimed that the judge abused his authority by denying his requests to sequester the jury throughout the trial, denying him a new trial due to what he described as juror misconduct, and refusing to allow him to remove what he regarded as blatantly biased jurors from the jury.
Chauvin also raised concerns about the trial itself, such as the insertion of the third-degree murder charge and the court’s failure to keep an official record of multiple sidebars during the proceedings.
Recently, Chauvin has filed a motion to halt the appeals process while the Minnesota Supreme Court considers an earlier decision to deny him a public defender to represent him in his appeal. Chauvin stated in an affidavit that he does not have an attorney representing him during the appeals process.
He said he had no income other than nominal prison wages and that the Minneapolis Peace and Police Officers Association paid for his legal representation before his conviction and imprisonment, but that after his conviction and sentencing, the association stopped paying for his legal representation.
He said he had no income other than nominal prison wages and that the Minneapolis Peace and Police Officers Association paid for his legal representation before his conviction and imprisonment, but that after his conviction and sentencing, the association stopped paying for his legal representation.
