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

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Sources: Mpr, FOX News, NBC and NPR Online News.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by FOX News. 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.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by NBC. 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.