Derek Chauvin appeals murder conviction in George Floyd case

CBS Minnesota reported that Chauvin filed his own 11th-hour appeal Thursday.

According to Reuters, Chauvin argues "that the judge in his case abused his discretion and made multiple errors during the trial."

"Chauvin plans to raise 14 separate issues, including Judge Peter Cahill's decision to deny Chauvin's request to move the trial out of Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, because of the intense pretrial publicity," Reuters reported.

He argues in the court filing that Cahill "improperly denied requests" to grant the former officer a new trial, "sequester the jury during trial," and to disqualify "clearly biased" potential jury members during the selection process.

Chauvin also states that Cahill made an error in permitting prosecutors to add a third-degree murder charge last minute before trial and by allowing the man who was with Floyd on the day of his death to not be forced to testify, per Reuters.

In the court filing, Chauvin states he is out of money and "unrepresented by legal counsel in connection with the appeal." He claims he was denied representation by a public defender and is asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to review that decision. He also alleges the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis no longer represents him now that he's convicted.

"Chauvin separately filed a request to put his appeal on hold until Minnesota's Supreme Court reviews an earlier decision to deny him a public defender to represent him in his appeal," Reuters reported.

In May, a jury found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd. As a result, Chauvin was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison, or 270 months, less than the 30 years that activists were pushing for. Reuters reported that Chauvin has also pleaded not guilty to the federal civil rights charges he is facing in addition.

According to the Daily Wire, attorney Eric Nelson argued before sentencing that Chauvin should be placed on probation and time-served.

"Mr. Chauvin is not the average offender," Nelson argued. "Prior to this incident, Mr. Chauvin led a hard-working, law-abiding life and has experienced no legal issues until the point of his arrest."

"Mr. Chauvin was unaware he was even committing a crime," Nelson added in his remarks. "In fact, in his mind, he was simply performing his lawful duty assisting other officers in the arrest of George Floyd."