By Anthony Gockowski
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal, just a month after his attorney asked the nation’s high court to take the case.
“I spoke with Derek and we are both disappointed that this trial, held after the most destructive riots in Minneapolis history, which required military presence both at the courthouse and around the city, would not be reviewed by the Minnesota state Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court,” attorney Bill Mohrman told Alpha News this week.
"Every juror had a stake in the outcome in that case," Bill Mohrman, Derek Chauvin's attorney, said. Watch the full documentary at https://t.co/ytr4ld8sSu#thefallofminneapolis #minneapolis #derekchauvin #georgefloyd pic.twitter.com/gDVQsr6iKW
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) November 22, 2023
Chauvin’s appeal was included in a list of rejected cases released Monday by the court, which did not comment on the reason for the denial.
Chauvin was convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021 for the May 2020 death of George Floyd. He is currently serving a more than 22-year prison sentence at a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz.
“At the end of the day, the whole trial including sentencing was a sham,” Chauvin told Alpha News in an exclusive interview in the new documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis.”
EXCLUSIVE: Derek Chauvin spoke publicly for the first time in the new Alpha News documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis.” “At the end of the day, the whole trial including sentencing was a sham.” WATCH NOW: https://t.co/ytr4ld7V2W#TheFallofMinneapolis #minneapolis #derekchauvin… pic.twitter.com/YIU25LJYNL
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) November 21, 2023
Chauvin’s petition to the Supreme Court hinged on the question of whether or not he was able to receive a fair trial by an impartial jury.
“Specifically, we argued the Minnesota Courts violated Mr. Chauvin’s right to a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment by refusing to transfer his trial to a location in Minnesota which was not affected by the George Floyd riots … If the jurors acquitted Mr. Chauvin, they would have been bracing for a resumption of riots in their own community and possible threats to their own personal safety — which virtually all the jurors expressed when questioned by the attorneys prior to trial,” Mohrman said.
The new documentary also includes an exclusive interview with former officer Alex Kueng, one of the three other officers who were convicted in Floyd’s death.
Former Minneapolis police officer Alex Kueng, who spoke exclusively to Alpha News, says he doesn't blame Derek Chauvin for anything. Watch the full documentary at https://t.co/ytr4ld8sSu#thefallofminneapolis #minneapolis #derekchauvin #georgefloyd pic.twitter.com/eVZNdkhw52
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) November 18, 2023
“I think he did exactly what he was trained to do,” Kueng said of Chauvin. “It’s unfortunate that the publicity got as riled up as it did with all the officials and politicians that were involved with the case, and it took away any chance he had to even say his piece.”
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
