FORMER MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED OF THE MURDER OF THE BLACK MAN GEORGE FLOYD HAS REQUESTED A NEW TRIAL.

 

Karimi & Associates Law Firm presents according to BBC:

Derek Chauvin’s legal team have filed court documents alleging misconduct by both prosecutors and jurors. Chauvin, who was captured on video kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter.

His lawyer says his client was deprived of a fair trial.

The rare verdict against a police officer was considered a milestone in the racial history of the US and was widely applauded by Americans. Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison.

He will be sentenced next month.

The New York Times quoted experts as saying it was unlikely that the jury’s decision would be overturned because of the evidence in the case.

Chauvin’s lawyer writes that it was “so pervasive and so prejudicial” before and during the trial, that it amounted to a “structural defect in the proceedings”.

The motion also alleges that errors were made by the judge and that there was prosecutorial misconduct and witness intimidation.

Expert witnesses on behalf of the state testified that Mr. Floyd died from a lack of oxygen due to the manner of restraint employed by Chauvin and his colleagues.

Chauvin himself chose not to testify, invoking his right to not incriminate himself with his responses.