Murders and attempted murders

Court to Hear Chauvin's Appeal in George Floyd's Murder

JAN 19 2023·Updated JAN 20 2023

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The Facts

On Wednesday, Derek Chauvin's attorney asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to toss out the former Minneapolis police officer's convictions relating to the murder of George Floyd. His legal team argued that legal errors interfered with a fair trial.
MPR News
Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years imprisonment on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was also subsequently sentenced by a federal judge to 21 years in prison.
FOX News
Chauvin’s attorney argued that the trial should've been moved out of Minneapolis due to pretrial publicity. The appeals court said a decision would be made within 90 days.
NBC
Chauvin is serving both of his sentences concurrently in a federal prison in Arizona. Under a federal plea deal, he waived his right to appeal his federal charge, and is thus only appealing his state charges — even if he won an appeal in state court he would still spend time in prison for his federal charges.
NPR

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The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

Legal and procedural errors hindered Chauvin from having a fair trial. The pretrial publicity was more extensive than that of any other trial in Minnesota history, and the judge should've moved the trial elsewhere. This case was and continues to be tried in the press not in a court of law — due process needs to occur.

FOX News

Pro-establishment narrative

Chauvin had a transparent and thorough trial; the extremely public nature of George Floyd's death made moving the trial out of Minneapolis pointless. The video evidence of him killing Floyd is indisputable; he's clearly guilty and has been convicted and sentenced accordingly. It's time for him to face the consequences of his actions.