Minnesota prosecutors in the Derek Chauvin murder case filed a memorandum Wednesday asking the court to deny the defense’s motions for a new trial.
“The State firmly opposes Defendant’s post-verdict motions,” the memo says. “The jury unanimously convicted Defendant of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter based on the overwhelming evidence establishing Defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The state wrote that Chauvin’s attorney’s claims that the former Minneapolis police officer should have been tried in another county outside of Hennepin – which includes Minneapolis, where George Floyd died during an arrest last year – were irrelevant because publicity of the murder was widespread.
Prosecutors noted that Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin held knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, was recorded by a bystander.
DEREK CHAUVIN FILES FOR NEW TRIAL IN DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD
“As a result, the entire world soon became aware of what had transpired on the corner of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue,” the state said. “There is no reason to believe that any part of this State was less impacted by pretrial publicity. Similarly, regardless of when this case was tried, it was always going to attract enormous attention. Under these circumstances, the law recognizes that changing venue or continuing the trial would not have had meaningfully lessened jurors’ exposure to pretrial publicity.”
Chauvin was convicted of Floyd’s murder in April and his sentencing is scheduled for June 25, according to FOX 9 in Minneapolis.
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Chauvin’s attorneys also claimed that the jury should have been sequestered and that one of the jurors didn’t reveal his bias and support for Black Lives Matter during jury selection, allegations the state said the court had already rejected, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Three other former Minneapolis officers who were present during Floyd’s murder face charges of aiding and abetting Chauvin and will face trial in March.
