quote:

Derek Chauvin’s new attorney indicated in court documents filed late last month that the former Minneapolis police officer plans to ask for his convictions to be overturned or, in the alternative, request a new trial.

Chauvin was found guilty in April 2021 of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree murder, and third-degree murder in the May 2020 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case in November 2023, ending his direct appeal.

However, in a petition for post-conviction relief, Chauvin’s new attorney, Gregory Joseph, writes that “grounds for relief in this Motion establish actual innocence, ineffective assistance of counsel, discovery violations … and related violations of due process and a fair trial under the United States Constitution.”

The 15-page petition alleges that the full details of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s report and toxicology report were not provided to Chauvin until July 2023.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Yep, federal crimes only as I understand it.

Chauvin is screwed, blued, and tattooed, as Minnesota will never have a Republican governor capable of pardoning him.

His only chance at freedom is escape…

quote:

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has partially reinstated a lawsuit filed by veteran prosecutor Amy Sweasy, who alleges that former Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman violated whistleblower protection laws after Sweasy’s refusal to charge additional officers in George Floyd’s death and add charges against former officer Derek Chauvin.

The ruling, issued Monday, allows Sweasy to move forward with claims that Freeman engaged in whistleblower retaliation against her for decisions she made during her tenure under his administration.

While not named as a defendant, Freeman’s successor, current Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, is mentioned in the ruling for her actions and comments after taking office.

quote:

SpaceX CEO and Trump confidant Elon Musk called a petition that urges the president to pardon Derek Chauvin “something to think about” in a social media post Tuesday.

Ben Shapiro with the Daily Wire launched the petition to pardon Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the death of George Floyd.

“There is a man that is rotting in prison because the media decided in the middle of 2020 that they were going to turn a tragic law enforcement stop that ended with the death of a man who had a significant problem with drugs and pre-existing health problems into the raison d’etre of the entire 2020 election,” Shapiro said during his podcast episode, a clip of which he shared with a link to “PardonDerek.com.”

Shapiro described Chauvin’s conviction as a “terrible wrong.” His X post and petition link were then shared by Musk, who oversees Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:

But not so fast – because now, Blackwell is facing down her own scandal—a scandal that reveals just how rotten this entire case truly was.

It turns out that Katie Blackwell actually lied under oath. During the trail, Katie Blackwell testified she “didn’t recognize” the restraint used on George Floyd, and that it was not trained.

But now, photos have surfaced of Blackwell herself using the very same “knee restraint” technique back in 2014.

quote:

Attorney Greg Joseph has filed a “Memorandum in support of petition for postconviction relief” on behalf of his client Derek Chauvin—the former Minneapolis police officer involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd.

In the 71-page petition filed in Hennepin County District Court, Joseph stated that “this case simply never made sense.” Among several key arguments, he pointed out how few murders “take place before a crowd of witnesses” while officers are working with dispatchers and requesting an ambulance and emergency response.

In speaking about the case for the first time since it was filed on Thursday, Nov. 20, Joseph also pointed out key facts—and raised questions about how video evidence was used during the trial. He also underscored the “potential for misuse” of video evidence and the “devastating effect” that false testimony can have in court and the judicial process.

The petition states that the case involved two key issues: intent and causation. That is, one, whether the restraint of Floyd followed policies and procedures of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD); and two, if the restraint caused his death.

With regard to intent and causation, Joseph stated in the petition that Chauvin’s conviction rested on these “two thin strands.”

In seeking to vacate Chauvin’s conviction, or obtain a new trial, the petition argues that Chauvin “was deprived of his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the Minnesota Constitution.”

In speaking about the prosecution—and what he believes was the false testimony of MPD Inspector Katie Blackwell, Chief Medaria Arradondo, and others during Chauvin’s trial—Joseph told Alpha News, “you can only run from the truth for so long.”

Joseph explained in the petition how the prosecution relied on “video and still frames” to tell “a single story.” But now, long after the “hysteria of the day,” the court and the rest of the world may finally be able to look at the facts and evidence “through a clear lens.”

The petition also references the lawsuit filed by Blackwell against Liz Collin, Dr. JC Chaix, Alpha News, and others.

Joseph’s petition cites the findings of Hennepin County Judge Wahl in that case.

Blackwell filed the lawsuit and claimed that she was defamed in Collin’s book, “They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and the Death of George Floyd” and later in the documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis,” which Collin produced.

Collin wrote: “it doesn’t seem like Blackwell, Arradondo, Mercil, and other so-called expert witnesses were telling the truth … It seems more like they were lying by omission, if not lying outright.”

Judge Wahl found that despite Blackwell’s claim, she was not defamed, and that the statements that Collin wrote in her book were “substantially true.”

Joseph’s petition for Chauvin also references the 34 current and former MPD officers who provided sworn declarations about how the restraint that Chauvin used was in fact part of MPD training, to the contrary of Blackwell’s testimony during Chauvin’s trial. In addition to those 34 officers, Chauvin’s petition includes declarations from 23 additional officers who came forward.

Another key aspect of the petition argues that the methods used to examine the video by Dr. Martin Tobin, a witness for the prosecution, are at odds with the methods used by the medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, the only doctor who conducted an actual autopsy of Floyd.

As explained in the petition: “The State knew all of this, and the only logical reason to bring in additional experts to contradict these findings is because prosecutors knew that Baker’s findings alone would not get them beyond the reasonable doubt they needed to convict Chauvin.”

Joseph further stated in the petition that prosecutors apparently followed a strategy “to replace the jury as finders of fact, use the video to inflame their prejudices, and fill in causation despite the lack of proof. This meant discrediting the medical examiner. So, Baker was called to testify fifth among causation witnesses.”

The prosecution now has 45 days to respond to the petition.

In acknowledging the significance of post-conviction relief, Joseph pointed to another key statement in the petition: “Prosecutorial misconduct is not an accusation that Chauvin makes flippantly or without careful consideration. But the record in this case reveals the inescapable conclusion that the difference between proper and improper expert witness testimony was exploited by prosecutors to gain the conviction of Chauvin, and not to do justice.”