(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a rather swift decision, the United States Supreme Court has snubbed a motion by former police officer Derek Chauvin to challenge his sentence over the death of George Floyd just as new evidence showed it may have been caused by fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd’s system.
The US Supreme Court declined to review the appeal of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, concerning a lower-court decision that sentenced him to over 20 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin’s legal representatives had filed the appeal the previous week, contending that the timing of the Minnesota officer’s trial amidst a turbulent period in the nation raised questions about jury impartiality.
The High Court dismissed Chauvin’s request for a writ of certiorari through an order issued on Monday, National Review reports.
In their appeal to the Supreme Court, the defense emphasized trial courts’ challenges in preserving a defendant’s right to a fair jury, especially in high-profile cases.
“Mr. Chauvin’s case shows the profound difficulties trial courts have to ensure a criminal defendant’s right to an impartial jury consistently when extreme cases arise,” they stated.
“This was particularly true here when the jurors themselves had a vested interest in finding Mr. Chauvin guilty in order to avoid further rioting in the community in which they lived and the possible threat of physical harm to them or their families,” the defense argued.
Chauvin’s legal team had previously argued that his trial should have been conducted outside of Minneapolis due to the extensive media coverage of Floyd’s death and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests and riots in the summer of 2020.
Chauvin is currently serving a 22.5-year sentence, having been convicted of second and third-degree murder by a Minnesota court jury in April 2021.
Before reaching the US Supreme Court, both the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court had upheld the lower court ruling.
The case gained national attention on May 25, 2020, when a widely circulated video depicted Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, even as Floyd expressed difficulty in breathing.
This incident, following Floyd’s arrest on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill, ignited violent far-left riots across the United States, along with heightened animosity towards law enforcement.
In a recent development, a medical examiner in Minneapolis concluded that Floyd’s death may have also been influenced by his use of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
