Defense lawyer Eric Nelson contended that Derek Chauvin’s inherent right to a fair trial had been violated
Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has recently filed a motion seeking a new trial at the passing of George Floyd, asserting his constitutional right to a fair trial had been violated multiple times during the event.
Defense lawyer Eric Nelson took issue with the judge’s refusal to grant a change of place and also the choice to not sequester jurors throughout the trial, among other items within an 10-point post-verdict filing.
“The cumulative effect of the numerous mistakes in these proceedings deprived Mr. Chauvin of a fair trial, in breach of his constitutional rights,” the filing reads.
Nelson claimed that it was unconstitutional once the court declined to compel testimony from Morries Hall, a suspected drug dealer and friend of Floyd’s who had been with him in the time of the May 25, 2020 episode that resulted in his death.
“The Court abused its discretion and violated Mr. Chauvin’s rights under the Confrontation Clause as it failed to dictate Morries Hall to testify, or instead, to acknowledge evidence Mr. Hall’s statements to law authorities concerning his interactions with George Floyd and attendance in the May 25, 2020 episode”
Hall invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying, but he’d made statements to authorities which weren’t disclosed to jurors, despite Nelson’s efforts to get them read in court.
“The Court abused its discretion when it filed directions to the jury who failed to correctly reflect the legislation with regard to second-degree accidental murder, third-degree murder and also approved use of force,” the filing reads.
And he contended that the court enabled prosecutors to direct witnesses during questioning.
Besides asking a new trial, Nelson also requested for its guilty verdicts from Chauvin to be chucked.
Two noteworthy possible regions of conflict were abandoned from this submitting — contentious remarks from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., along with a juror who had been photographed in a Dark Lives Issue demonstration but neglected to admit it upon the pretrial questionnaire given to prospective jury members.
Waters had stated she’d urge protesters to”get more confrontational” if Chauvin was acquitted at trial.
And Brandon Mitchell, the juror, was photographed last summer in a Washington, D.C., BLM rally sporting a T-shirt that stated”Get off your knee our throat” — a reference to Floyd’s departure after Chauvin knelt on his throat for almost nine minutes on movie.
Mitchell replied”no” to both questions.
