Minneapolis — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin filed a motion through his attorney on Tuesday asking for a new trial after he was convicted for the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin is challenging the trial based on his constitutional right to a fair trial being violated according to the Daily Caller.
The motion comes after revelations that a juror in the George Floyd trial, Brandon Mitchell, previously attended Black Lives Matter protests despite stating otherwise before he was selected as a juror.
Before the trial began, Mitchell filled out a questionnaire for jury selection for which he answered that he had never previously attended any protests regarding police brutality, CBSN Minnesota reported. However, a photo of Mitchell at such a protest went viral, with Mitchell later confirming his attendance.
Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, also identified several violations of Chauvin’s constitutional rights including the refusal by the judge presiding over the case to grant a change of venue, the decision not to sequester jurors, and the court’s decision to decline testimony from Floyd’s suspected drug dealer, Morries Hall.
Despite being listed as a witness for the prosecution, Hall invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid testifying. Hall had previously made statements to police that the jurors were not allowed to hear.
“The cumulative effect of the multiple errors in these proceedings deprived Mr. Chauvin of a fair trial, in violation of his constitutional rights,” Nelson stated in the filing. “The Court abused its discretion and violated Mr. Chauvin’s rights under the Confrontation Clause when it failed to order Morries Hall to testify, or in the alternative, to admit into evidence Mr. Hall’s statements to law enforcement regarding his interactions with George Floyd and presence at the May 25, 2020 incident.”
Nelson also asked for the guilty verdict to be tossed in addition to the new trial request.
