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FOX 26 Legal Analyst breaks down request by Derek Chauvin’s lawyer to dismiss guilty verdicts
FOX 26 Reporter Natalie Hee spoke with FOX 26 Legal Analyst Chris Tritico about the request that was filed by Chauvin's lawyer on Tuesday.
HOUSTON - The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering Houston-native George Floyd wants that guilty verdict thrown out. Derek Chauvin's attorney is now seeking a new trial alleging jury misconduct and a violation of due process.
The motion filed in court Tuesday falls just two weeks after Chauvin was convicted of all three charges including murder by a jury.
In court documents, the defense cited several reasons why the verdict should be impeached, pointing specifically to Judge Peter Cahill’s failure to grant a change of venue and sequester the jury.
"It was error in my view not to sequester that jury in the beginning given the vast and horrible pretrial publicity this case was getting against Derek Chauvin. But the defense didn’t do anything as the trial went on and the publicity mounted and mounted and mounted. They never preserved it during the trial," said Chris Tritico, FOX 26 legal analyst.
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Tritico doesn’t believe the judge’s decisions will be enough reason for the court of appeals.
But on the grounds of alleged jury misconduct, Tritico says it might be a different outcome.
Court records claim the jury "felt threatened or intimidated and felt race-based pressure during proceedings."
"The primary point that has some teeth is this juror that was in a George Floyd march with a t-shirt on that said get your knee off our necks. And he lied about it in jury selection. When a juror lies and gets on that jury just to convict someone, that is not a fair trial. And so if the judge grants this, it's because of what that juror did. And Mr. Chauvin, whether we like him or not, is entitled to a fair trial," Tritico said.
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Ironically, despite recent reports, the defense did not include any mention of that juror’s actions at the rally in Tuesday’s motion.
"A motion for a new trial is filed in every criminal case that results in a conviction. Very rarely are they granted. I’ve had maybe two granted in 32 years of practicing criminal law," Tritico said.
FOX 26 reached out to the Floyd family and their attorney Ben Crump for a response, but did not hear back.
Crump tweeted a response to the defense's motion.