Derek Chauvin’s Attorney Files New Petition

Attorney Greg Joseph has filed a “Memorandum in support of petition for postconviction relief” on behalf of his client Derek Chauvin—the former Minneapolis police officer involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd.

In the 71-page petition filed in Hennepin County District Court, Joseph stated that “this case simply never made sense.” Among several key arguments, he pointed out how few murders “take place before a crowd of witnesses” while officers are working with dispatchers and requesting an ambulance and emergency response.

In speaking about the case for the first time since it was filed on Thursday, Nov. 20, Joseph also pointed out key facts—and raised questions about how video evidence was used during the trial. He also underscored the “potential for misuse” of video evidence and the “devastating effect” that false testimony can have in court and the judicial process.

The petition states that the case involved two key issues: intent and causation. That is, one, whether the restraint of Floyd followed policies and procedures of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD); and two, if the restraint caused his death.

With regard to intent and causation, Joseph stated in the petition that Chauvin’s conviction rested on these “two thin strands.”

In seeking to vacate Chauvin’s conviction, or obtain a new trial, the petition argues that Chauvin “was deprived of his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the Minnesota Constitution.”

Joseph explained in the petition how the prosecution relied on “video and still frames” to tell “a single story.” But now, long after the “hysteria of the day,” the court and the rest of the world may finally be able to look at the facts and evidence “through a clear lens.”

Joseph’s petition for Chauvin also references the 34 current and former MPD officers who provided sworn declarations about how the restraint that Chauvin used was in fact part of MPD training, to the contrary of Blackwell’s testimony during Chauvin’s trial. In addition to those 34 officers, Chauvin’s petition includes declarations from 23 additional officers who came forward.

Another key aspect of the petition argues that the methods used to examine the video by Dr. Martin Tobin, a witness for the prosecution, are at odds with the methods used by the medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker, the only doctor who conducted an actual autopsy of Floyd.

As explained in the petition: “The State knew all of this, and the only logical reason to bring in additional experts to contradict these findings is because prosecutors knew that Baker’s findings alone would not get them beyond the reasonable doubt they needed to convict Chauvin.”

Joseph further stated in the petition that prosecutors apparently followed a strategy “to replace the jury as finders of fact, use the video to inflame their prejudices, and fill in causation despite the lack of proof. This meant discrediting the medical examiner. So, Baker was called to testify fifth among causation witnesses.”

In acknowledging the significance of post-conviction relief, Joseph pointed to another key statement in the petition: “Prosecutorial misconduct is not an accusation that Chauvin makes flippantly or without careful consideration. But the record in this case reveals the inescapable conclusion that the difference between proper and improper expert witness testimony was exploited by prosecutors to gain the conviction of Chauvin, and not to do justice.”