WASHINGTON: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has appealed his conviction for the murder of George Floyd, citing 14 complaints about his high-profile trial earlier this year in a case that roiled the United States and laid bare deep racial divisions.
The killing of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in May 2020 went viral after being caught on camera and sparked America’s biggest demonstrations for racial justice in decades.
Chauvin, who in June was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nearly 10 minutes, appealed the conviction Thursday night with a Minnesota district court, on the last day he was able to do so.
He accuses the state of prejudicial misconduct and lists multiple issues with the jury selected for the trial, among other objections.
The former police officer accuses the court of “abusing its discretion” by denying requests to postpone or move the trial, and refusing to sequester the jury for its duration.
Chauvin, a 45-year-old white man, was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck, indifferent to the dying man’s groans and to the pleas of distraught passers-by.
Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” before he died.
The scene, filmed and uploaded by a young woman, quickly spread around the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people subsequently poured onto streets across the country and overseas to demand an end to racism and police brutality.
The ex-cop and three of his colleagues arrested Floyd on suspicion of having passed a fake $20 bill in a store in Minneapolis, a northern city of around 400,000 people.
They handcuffed him and pinned him to the ground in the street.
In the filed documents, Chauvin said he has no income and no legal representation in the appeals process. A defense fund that paid for his representation during the trial was terminated after his sentencing.
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