MAY 5
• Yesterday afternoon Chauvin defense attorney Eric Nelson filed a motion for new trial and a related motion for a hearing to interrogate the jury in order to impeach the verdict (a so-called
Schwartz hearing now codified in Rule 26.03, Subd. 20(6) of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure). Nelson also asked for additional time to file a memorandum of law in support of the motions “in light of the time that was required for preparation of partial transcripts of the proceedings.” The court has posted the motions here.
• With one or two exceptions Nelson’s new trial motion appears to be pro forma. Two such exceptions are raised by the court’s denial of Chauvin’s motion for a change of venue and the underlying problem of pretrial publicity, issues discussed many times on this site.
Chauvin trial footnotes (3)
I have posted two previous editions of footnotes to our coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. My purpose here is to provide background on the legal issues in the case for those who seek to understand them. If you are certain that the issues constitute nothing more than a smokescreen for a predetermined outcome, these footnotes are not for you.
I post these footnotes in the form of bullet points and differentiate facts and law from (my) opinion. Previous editions are included below under
May 2 and
April 25. Today I want to add a few footnotes in the same form:
Chauvin trial footnotes (2)
Last Sunday I posted a few footnotes to our coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. I posted the footnotes in the form of bullet points. Last week’s footnotes are included below under
April 25. Today I want to add footnotes in the same form and keep this going as warranted:
• Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder and two lesser included offenses. Minnesota law (i.e., Minn. Stat. § 609.035) follows a “single behavioral incident” rule precluding additional punishment for the same “conduct.” See, e.g., the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in
• Here all three offenses were inarguably predicated on the same conduct. At least the State does not dispute this point. Accordingly, I believe the rule applies in this case. Chauvin is to be sentenced on the second-degree murder charge, but not on the lesser included offenses.
Chauvin trial footnotes
I want to add a few footnotes in the form of bullet points to our coverage of the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd:
• The thirteenth and fourteenth seated jurors served as alternates and were released at the end of the trial. Juror number 96 — Lisa Christensen — was the thirteenth seated juror. She made the media rounds last week in the aftermath of the verdict.
KARE 11’s Lou Raguse interviewed Christensen in “‘I wish it didn’t have to happen’: Alternate juror reflects on Derek Chauvin trial.” Christensen lives in Brooklyn Center and had to navigate her way home through the crowds blocking intersections to protest the death of Daunte Wright.