Murder of George Floyd: ex-policeman Derek Chauvin appeals his conviction

Published on : 09/24/2021 – 07:50

Former US police officer Derek Chauvin has appealed the twenty-two-and-a-half-year prison sentence imposed on him for the murder of African-American George Floyd in 2020, according to court documents released Thursday, September 23.

Derek Chauvin attacks on appeal 14 points of his conviction, pronounced on June 25 by the justice of Minnesota. He complains in particular that the judge did not order the solitary confinement of the jurors for the duration of the trial.

Besides Derek Chauvin, his three former colleagues, Tou Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, are to be tried in March 2022 for “complicity in murder” also by the justice of Minnesota.

The conviction of the principal perpetrator of the murder of George Floyd had been greeted with a great sigh of relief, in particular because of the demonstrations, sometimes interspersed with violence again if he emerged free from the hearings.

Police officers rarely convicted

Before Derek Chauvin, a dozen American police officers received prison sentences for murders committed in the line of duty.

On May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer, wanted to arrest George Floyd, suspected of having used a fake $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes. With three colleagues, he had pinned him to the ground, before kneeling on his neck.

The policeman had maintained his pressure for nearly ten minutes, indifferent to the groans of George Floyd, but also to the pleas of distraught passers-by, even once the pulse of the forty-something had become undetectable.

The scene, filmed and uploaded by a witness, quickly went viral and sparked giant protests against racism and police violence across the United States and around the world.

With AFP