Derek Chauvin has been denied a motion for his new trial, right after his lawyers complained of jury misconduct recently.
According to local media outlets, the news came as the former Minneapolis cop’s sentencing was due in a matter of hours, in relation to the killing of George Floyd, a tragic incident that took place last year.
45-year-old Derek Chauvin was recently sentenced to a span of 22 and a half years in prison for killing George Floyd by kneeling upon his neck for more than 9 minutes, as the Black man cried for help.
But the denial for a new trial came just a matter of hours before the sentencing took place. Here is where Judge Peter Cahill denied all of the motions requested by the defense side for his new trial.
In the same way, reports confirmed how Derek Chauvin’s lawyer went about arguing how his client was denied access for a fair trial due to reasons relating to both prosecutorial as well as jury misconduct. Moreover, he also complained about errors in the name of law seen throughout the trial.
But that just wasn’t good enough to spare the former cop who received a sentence of 22 and a half years, despite experts going on to predict a sentence comprising of 25 years at least.
Derek Chauvin was found guilty on the 20th of April by the jury. The ex-Minneapolis police officer was observed on camera kneeling down upon Floyd’s neck.
The incident sparked massive outrage in the US and around the globe, giving rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and many citizens calling on the country’s government to defund the police.
Derek Chauvin will be required to serve at least 15 years in jail, after which he might be eligible for parole, depending on his good conduct, confirmed reports.
Some reports claim that Chauvin’s defense team will also take their case to the Court of Appeals but that will not have any effect on his sentencing for the time being, which was already announced on Friday.