Chauvin murder conviction upheld in George Floyd killing

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's second-degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, and his 22 1/2-year sentence remains in place.

Chauvin's attorney had asked the appeals court to throw out the ex-officer's convictions for a long list of reasons, including the massive pretrial publicity.

He also argued that legal and procedural errors deprived Chauvin of a fair trial. But the three-judge panel sided with prosecutors who said Chauvin got a fair trial and just sentence.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black man's neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes.

A bystander video captured Floyd's fading cries of “I can't breathe.”

Floyd's death touched off protests around the world, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.

“Police officers undoubtedly have a challenging, difficult, and sometimes dangerous job. However, no one is above the law,” Appeals Judge Peter Reyes wrote for the panel.

“When they commit a crime, they must be held accountable just as those individuals that they lawfully apprehend. The law only permits police officers to use reasonable force when effecting a lawful arrest. Chauvin crossed that line here when he used unreasonable force on Floyd.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who assembled the prosecution team, said in a statement that he was “grateful we have a system where everyone, no matter how egregious their offence, is entitled to due process and fair treatment.”

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