Disgraced former officer and murderer Derek Chauvin was found to be too poor to afford an attorney to defend him in his upcoming civil rights case. Revolt TV reported that on June 1, United States Magistrate Becky Thorson found him “financially unable” to afford a lawyer and appointed Eric Nelson to represent him.
Nelson is the attorney that represented Chauvin in his criminal trial in which he was found guilty by a jury on all charges related to the death of George Floyd. Nelson’s fees for the criminal trial were covered by the Minneapolis Police and Peace Officers Association legal fund.
On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin appeared in court on charges that he willfully violated George Floyd’s constitutional rights when Chauvin held him down with his knee on his neck for over nine minutes while Floyd begged for his life in the prone position.
Department of Justice documents stated, “Chauvin held his left knee across George Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm as Mr. Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed, and unremitting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive.”
Chauvin is also charged with a 2017 incident where he nearly killed a 14-year-old suspect when he struck him in the head so hard the teen needed stitches. In that case, Chauvin held the child down with his knee for 17 minutes.
Legal problems are the tip of the iceberg for the convicted killer. Shortly after the video of him committing murder, his wife went through the formal divorce process. He was also fired from his job, where he had worked for almost two decades, making his financial situation even worse.
This is cathartic. Chauvin has ended up exactly where racist perpetrators of violence should end up: poor and incarcerated. Hopefully, he will experience his second and third strikes in the civil trials.
