Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is seeking to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin, who is currently serving a 21-year sentence, has filed a motion claiming that new evidence proves he did not cause Floyd’s death. In the motion filed on Monday, Chauvin stated that he would not have pleaded guilty in 2021 if he had known about the theories presented by a Kansas pathologist.
Chauvin is requesting the judge to dismiss his civil rights conviction and order a new trial or at least a hearing to present the new evidence. He filed the motion without legal representation. According to records, Chauvin had been in contact with Dr. William Schaetzel, a pathologist from Topeka, Kansas, who believes Floyd died from complications of a rare tumor called a paraganglioma. This tumor can cause a fatal surge of adrenaline.
It is important to note that Dr. Schaetzel did not examine Floyd’s body but reviewed autopsy reports. Chauvin argues that if the jury had heard this evidence, they would not have convicted him. However, it is worth mentioning that a federal appeals court has already rejected Chauvin’s requests for a rehearing, and he is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding his appeal of his state court murder conviction.
The city of Minneapolis is also making legal settlements, amounting to nearly $9 million, to individuals whom Chauvin had knelt on before his fatal confrontation with George Floyd in 2020. Chauvin’s conviction and the subsequent legal developments surrounding the case have sparked widespread protests and discussions about police brutality and racial injustice in the United States.
Overall, Chauvin’s motion to overturn his conviction adds another layer of complexity to a case that has had significant implications for the criminal justice system and the Black Lives Matter movement. The outcome of his appeal and the response from the courts will continue to be closely watched by the public.
