Derek Chauvin asks state to overturn conviction in George Floyd case due to lack of Grand Jury

The attorney representing Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer sent to prison over the 2020 death of George Floyd, is seeking the dismissal of charges against his client, alleging “fraudulent” and “unlawful” conduct by state and county officials.

Attorney Greg Joseph argued in the 31-page court petition filed on Tuesday that Chauvin’s due process rights were violated because a grand jury had never been convened to review the charges against him. He wrote, “Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill presided over a year-long due process violation by failing to convene a grand jury to consider the State’s evidence at any point between the moment he was assigned to the case, and the verdict. He lacked jurisdiction over the charges, as this Court does, because they were never lawfully brought,” per Alpha News. 

Joseph also argued that Governor Tim Walz’s appointment of Attorney General Keith Ellison to lead the case was unlawful. Ellison had added the charge of second-degree murder to the complaint against Chauvin. Chauvin ultimately received two concurrent sentences. He was sentenced to 22.5 years on the state charges for second-degree murder, and 21 years in prison for federal civil rights violations. 

The filing stated that a Hennepin County prosecutor, Amy Seasy, withdrew from the case and “disagreed with a decision to add additional charges against Chauvin.”

The filing stated, “Because Hennepin County’s unlawful charges against Mr. Chauvin were not severe enough for the mob, Walz referred the case to Keith Ellison, who signed and e-filed a second unfounded complaint against Derek Chauvin that included the murder charge it wanted.” 

The filing added, “It is impossible to assess the trial errors in State v. Chauvin because the entire trial was a fraud; it was based on unfounded charges that were never properly before the Court.” 

Speaking with Alpha News, Joseph said of why the arguments laid out in the petition have not been raised before in the case, “In a very short period of time there were very fundamental and basic violations of due process. And those aren’t necessarily things that defense attorneys normally look for.” He later added, “The political fruits of this unlawful prosecution have shaped the trajectory of this State and the world.”