PanamaTimes

Sunday, Oct 25, 2026

Derek Chauvin appeals conviction and sentence for murder of George Floyd

Derek Chauvin appeals conviction and sentence for murder of George Floyd

The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of George Floyd’s murder plans to appeal his conviction and sentence, according to court documents.

Derek Chauvin, 45, indents to appeal on 14 different grounds, according to the documents filed yesterday.

Among them, he says that Judge Cahill abused his discretion when he denied the defendant’s request to move the trial out of Hennepin County due to pre-trial publicity.

He also claimed the judge acted improperly by denying a request to sequester the jury for the duration of the trial, and when he refused to postpone the trial or grant a new one when asked.

Chauvin was convicted earlier this year on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

He was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. He is also charged in federal court with violating Floyd’s civil rights when he knelt on his neck for approximately 9.5 minutes.

Mr Floyd, a Black man, was facedown on the pavement at the time, and repeatedly could be heard saying ‘I can’t breathe.’ Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the death of George Floyd

Chauvin will be representing himself in the appeals process, as he has no income aside from nominal prison wages


The former police officer had 90 days after his sentencing to file notice that he intends to appeal.

He also filed a motion to put the appeals process on hold until the Supreme Court reviews an earlier decision to deny him a public defender to represent him in his appeal.

Chauvin will be representing himself in the appeals process, as he has no income aside from nominal prison wages.

His case before Cahill had been funded by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association’s legal defense fund.

‘I have been informed that their obligation to pay for my representation terminated upon my conviction and sentencing,’ Chauvin wrote.

All grounds that Chauvin raised in his notice of intent to appeal had been raised previously by defense attorney Eric Nelson as the case worked its way through the district court.

George Floyd’s death sparked a wave of anti-racism protests across the world


Mr Nelson had previously argued that intense publicity around Mr Floyd´s death tainted the jury pool and that the trial should have been moved away from Minneapolis.

Chauvin intends to argue that Judge Cahill abused his discretion when he failed to allow Chauvin to strike ‘clearly biased’ jurors for cause and when he allowed the state to add a charge of third-degree murder.

He also believes the judge was wrong to limit the admissibility of evidence from a prior arrest of Mr Floyd, and when he denied Mr Nelson’s post-verdict request for a new trial and request for a hearing to question jurors to investigate alleged misconduct.

Chauvin also accused a juror of not being candid during jury selection because he failed to mention his participation in a march to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 2020.

Prosecutors countered that Brandon Mitchell had been open about his views in a jury questionnaire and during questioning.

The judge ruled the defense didn’t establish any evidence of juror misconduct either during trial or during jury selection that warranted an evidentiary hearing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Advertising trick: Pepsi’s Harrier Jet Commercial Led to a $700,000 Court Fight
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
Trump-Era Policy Shifts Test the Boundaries of U.S. Institutions
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Cuba’s Grid Fails Again as Fuel Crisis Deepens
Nazca Lines Flight Crash Kills Thirteen as Peru Suspends Aerodiana
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Venezuela’s Earthquake Devastation Turns U.S. Investment Opportunity Into a Thirty-Seven Billion Dollar Reconstruction Challenge
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Colombia Influencer Dies After Cosmetic Procedure at Unlicensed Bogota Salon
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
On the Island That Did Not Yield to Trump, There Is No Electricity, and 10 Million Live in Darkness
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
×