Minnesota

Derek Chauvin to appeal to SCOTUS after Minnesota’s high court declines to review his state murder conviction

Published

1 year ago

July 19, 2023

Derek Chauvin to appeal to SCOTUS after Minnesota’s high court declines to review his state murder conviction

(CNN) — Derek Chauvin, the man who killed George Floyd, will take the appeal of his state murder conviction to the Supreme Court after Minnesota’s top court denied the request to hear his petition.

“We will petition the United States Supreme Court via a Writ of Certiorari and ask them to review the lower court’s decision on behalf of Mr. Chauvin,” attorney Gregory M. Erickson said in a statement Wednesday.

The Minnesota Supreme Court denied Chauvin’s appeal without comment in a one-page filing dated Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office for comment.

Chauvin’s lawyers have said there were various reasons to overturn the conviction, including a state district court depriving the former Minneapolis police officer of his right to a fair trial when they denied his request for a change of venue, despite “pervasive adverse publicity.”

Chauvin was found guilty in April 2021 of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison, which exceeded Minnesota’s sentencing guideline range of 10 years and eight months to 15 years.

Chauvin later pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in prison to run concurrently with his state sentence.

Body camera and bystander video that captured the final moments of Floyd’s life on May 25, 2020, show Chauvin kneeling on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck and back for more than nine minutes as Floyd gasped for air and told officers, “I can’t breathe.”

Floyd’s death ignited prolonged protests across the country over police brutality and racial injustice. An investigation by the state Department of Human Rights launched a week later found Minneapolis and its police department engaged in “a pattern or practice of race discrimination,” according to its 2022 report.

Chauvin is incarcerated at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Attorney cites publicity, protests, and prosecutorial misconduct in appeal

In his April 2022 filing to the state Court of Appeals, Chauvin attorney William Mohrman listed more than a dozen aspects of the case and trial that he argued tainted the proceedings and rendered them “structurally defective.”

The list included extensive pretrial publicity and protests outside the courthouse, as well as the city’s announcement during jury selection that it would pay a $27 million settlement to Floyd’s family.

Chauvin and his attorney also asked the appeals court to review whether the venue should have been changed, the jury fully sequestered, or the trial delayed because of pretrial protests and media coverage.

The appeal to the lower appeals court also accused prosecutors of misconduct, alleging the state’s attorneys failed to properly disclose discovery information and adequately prepare prosecution witnesses.

In the 50-page decision affirming Chauvin’s conviction last month, a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals held in part that Chauvin failed to show actual prejudice.

At the time of Chauvin’s sentencing in June 2021, Judge Peter Cahill wrote in a memorandum that the case warranted a harsher sentence because Chauvin “abused his position of trust and authority” and treated Floyd “without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings.”

CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe and Andy Rose contributed to this report.

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Minnesota

Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports

Published

11 minutes ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports

Nicole Hensley made back-to-back saves in the shootout and the Minnesota Frost earned their fourth straight victory with a 4-3 win over the New York Sirens on Sunday in Newark, N.J.

It was the fourth time in seven all-time meetings that a game between the teams was decided in OT and the second this season. New York won the season opener in St. Paul, Minn.

Kendall Coyne Schofield scored two first-period goals to stake the Frost to the early lead and Taylor Heise beat Kayle Osborne, who relieved starter Abigail Levy in the New York net to start the second period, two minutes in to make it a 3-0 lead.

WATCH l Heise scores shootout winner:

Minnesota captures shootout win over New York to remain on top of PWHL standings

Taylor Heise’s fourth round shootout goal turned out to be the difference as the Minnesota Frost defeated New York Sirens 4-3 Sunday in New Jersey.

But Osborne did not allow another goal in regulation and wasn’t seriously challenged in overtime while the Sirens staged a comeback. Brooke Hobson and Elizabeth Giguere each scored in the second period and Alex Carpenter pounced on a loose puck and lifted a shot over Hensley’s shoulder from deep in the face-off circle to tie the game midway through the third period.

Hensley was brilliant in overtime, turning away four close-in, open shots by the Sirens (2-1-1-1), two of them on breakaway chances.

Minnesota (4-0-1-0) got goals from Denisa Křížová, Grace Zumwinkle and Heise in the shootout. Noora Tulus and Carpenter each converted in the shootout for New York, but Hensley came up with a save on Sarah Fillier before stopping the final two shooters for the Sirens.

Hensley finished with 33 saves on 36 shots to earn the win. Osborne made 18 saves on 19 shots over her 45 minutes in goal for New York. Carpenter’s two-goal effort lifted her past Coyne Schofield and into the league lead with four goals in her first five games and she now has a league-leading seven points.

WATCH l Sirens’ Fillier, Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry:

New York Sirens’ Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry

Host Anastasia Bucsis puts newest teammates and linemates to the test to determine if their chemistry on the ice, translates off it.

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Minnesota

Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years

Published

8 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years

A northern Minnesota airport with an unusual claim to fame is closing after 70 years of operation.

The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport near Roseau is the only airport with a paved runway crossing the U.S.-Canada border.

The border airport opened in 1953 to expedite customs processing for air travelers and was regularly used by hunters and anglers flying to Canada.

The Piney Pinecreek airport has the only paved runway crossing the US Canada border.

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Initially, the airport had a grass runway that ended at the border, but in 1978 a runway expansion added a paved runway that extended into Canada.

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Customs agents would meet travelers on either side of the border.

But declining usage and significant impending repair costs led to the decision to close the one of a kind operation, said Ryan Gaug, director of the Minnesota Department of Transportation aeronautics office.

“We know that the pavement condition has declined significantly over the years and will need a reconstruct most likely in the next one to three years,” said Gaug.

Short-term costs to bring the facility up to safety standards is estimated at $3.8 million.

Piney-Pinecreek is the only airport owned by MnDOT, and it is operated in collaboration with the Rural Municipality of Piney, Manitoba.

A Canadian official said the local government could not raise the money to pay its share of the planned improvement costs and Piney officials ended the joint operations agreement.

Gaug said an estimated 200 airplanes a year use the facility, far lower than traffic at similar sized facilities.

There are six airports on the U.S.-Canada border, but Piney-Pinecreek is the only one with a paved runway.

“It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” said Gaug.

“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” he said.

concrete with black stripes — MnDOT officials said the runway at Piney Pinecreek border airport needs a costly reconstruction.
Courtesy MnDOT

There are no local airplanes based at the airport.

“It’s very sad for the community to lose its airport,” said Marlin Elton, a local resident who served on the airport commission and helped maintain the facility for 30 years.

Elton said the closure hasn’t raised concerns in the community because “if you don’t fly, it won’t affect you. The ones who will be affected are the pilots who use it.”

Gaug said MnDOT reached out to pilots and aviation groups to gauge support for keeping the airport open but found “there just isn’t a strong user base for this airport and that also led to not a strong local support fighting to keep this airport.”

The final day of operations for the Piney-Pinecreek airport is Dec. 26.

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