Pool/Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin had requested that the high court hear his case after a Minnesota appellate court upheld his 2021 conviction and turned down a new trial. He claimed that jury and judge bias violated his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial.
Chauvin, who is white, is serving a 22 1/2-year prison sentence for killing Floyd, who is Black, by pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes during an arrest. Video footage went viral on social media showing Floyd crying out, “I can’t breathe,” leading to mass protests worldwide.