Derek Chauvin again seeking to overturn state conviction for murder of George Floyd
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Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his state conviction for the murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin’s attorney, Gregory Joseph, on Tuesday filed a third petition for post-conviction relief, claiming there was “structural error” in the charges brought against his client.
The petition claims that Gov. Tim Walz’s assignment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute Chauvin was “illegitimate.”
It also claims that a grand jury should have been convened to consider an indictment of Chauvin. The lack of a grand jury, the latest court filings claim, “allowed prosecutors to substitute their judgment for that of the grand jury in order to force Mr. Chauvin to face charges that were unsupported by probable cause.”
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Chauvin is seeking to have his conviction vacated and the charges dismissed.
Prosecutors had not filed a response to the petition as of late Tuesday afternoon. The attorney general’s office declined comment on Tuesday.
A Hennepin County jury in 2021 convicted Chauvin of murdering Floyd. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights.
Chauvin, 50, is currently being held at a federal prison in Texas, and has previously unsuccessfully appealed his state conviction or sought post-conviction relief several times.
In November 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal in which Chauvin’s attorneys argued that their client was denied a fair trial because of pretrial publicity and concerns for violence in the event of an acquittal. The Minnesota Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court had previously rejected that appeal.
Chauvin also filed petitions for post-conviction relief in late 2024 and again late last year. Both were rejected by a Hennepin County judge.
