Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson is getting desperate as he seeks a new trial for Chauvin. Chauvin, who was convicted for murdering George Floyd while on duty, was found guilty on all charges he was tried for.
Nelson has been seeking a new trial for Chauvin after a Black juror who helped convict him was seen in a photo wearing a Black Lives Matter cap and a Martin Luther King Jr. T-shirt at an MLK event in Washington, D.C. Nelson decided, based on the photo, that the juror must have lied in a questionnaire that jurors were required to fill out when he said that he had never been involved in a BLM protest. Does that make sense? No. Attending a celebratory event in one state does not make you a protestor in another one, so that’s that.
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Furthermore, Nelson is taking things a step further by seeking a hearing to “impeach the verdict” by investigating potential juror misconduct. Of course, seeking to impeach a jury is less common than requesting a new trial. Still, Nelson claims everything from the extensive publicity of the case to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, arguing the state “belittled” Nelson’s defense by calling his arguments “stories” and deprived Chauvin’s right of a fair trial.
Most of Nelson’s objections about the trial were already brought forward and subsequently dismissed by Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the trial. As for the claim of a non-impartial juror, The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that if a juror is found to have lied under questioning and it is determined that said juror may have prevented a defendant from receiving a fair trial, the matter can be brought before a judge. However, this is incredibly rare, given the court would have to prove the juror was not truthful through questioning.
Chauvin is about to be rotting in jail, and his lawyers are pulling out every Hail Mary.
