BREAKING: Derek Chauvin’s attorney files new petition, says prosecution ‘can only run from the truth for so long’
In the bombshell petition, 50 former and current officers provided sworn declarations stating that the technique used by Derek Chauvin was part of MPD training.
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.”
In speaking about the prosecution—and what he believes was the false testimony of MPD Inspector Katie Blackwell, Chief Medaria Arradondo, and others during Chauvin’s trial—Joseph told Alpha News, “you can only run from the truth for so long.”