Chauvin Appeal in Floyd Murder Denied by US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.

In an order on Monday, the justices without comment refused to consider Derek Chauvin’s claims that his constitutional right to a fair trial was violated.

Video of Chauvin, who is White, kneeling on Floyd’s neck in 2020 while Floyd, who was Black, struggled to breathe went viral. The killing sparked riots and other protests nationally over police brutality and racial injustice.

Chauvin said the state courts were wrong to deny his request for a change of venue before his trial and wrong to refuse to hold a hearing on evidence of jury bias and misconduct after his trial.

“The appellate court ignored the community harm and hence, the presumed prejudice as a result of the destructive riots before Mr. Chauvin’s trial and the threat of renewed riots dependent upon the verdict— all confirmed by the jurors’ expression of genuine concerns for their own safety, the safety of their families, and others,” Chauvin’s attorneys said in asking the justices to hear his case, which the Minnesota Supreme Court had rejected.

Chauvin was convicted in April 2021 of second and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.

The case is Chauvin v. Minnesota, U.S., No. 23-416.