Minnesota Supreme Court won’t hear Derek Chauvin’s appeal, petition to SCOTUS planned

Minnesota’s highest court won’t hear an appeal from the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, meaning his last hope lies with the nation’s highest court.

The Minnesota Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday denying Derek Chauvin’s petition for further review. No further explanation behind the decision is included in the one-page order, which is typical for the court.

An attorney from the office of William Mohrman, who is representing Chauvin, confirmed they are planning to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. That petition for a writ of certiorari is due within 90 days, and the Supreme Court would then be expected to take a couple months to decide whether or not to hear Chauvin’s appeal.

Chauvin, who is serving a 22½-year sentence for killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than 9 minutes on May 25, 2020, had his appeal for a new trial denied by the Minnesota Court of Appeals back in April.

His attorney argued that massive pretrial publicity and what he called legal and procedural errors denied Chauvin a fair trial. Prosecutors argued last month that Chauvin received “one of the most thorough and transparent criminal proceedings in the history of this nation” and shouldn’t have a “do-over.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued the following statement Wednesday:

“The Minnesota Supreme Court’s denial of review of Derek Chauvin’s conviction means that the Court of Appeals was correct in finding that his trial was properly conducted and he was properly convicted under law. This development definitively holds Chauvin accountable and closes this chapter of the murder of George Floyd. My thanks go to the trial team who worked so hard on this case for three years, and my thoughts go to Floyd and his family.”