The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal of the conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer who was killed George Floyd.
The decision confirms Derek Chauvin’s conviction for second-degree murder and his sentence of more than 20 years in prison.
In October, Chauvin’s legal defense asked their country’s highest court to hear their client’s case, arguing that he was denied a fair trial in 2021 due to bias in the previous trial due to publicity.
They also argued jury misconduct, claiming it was in the best interest of jurors to convict Chauvin to avoid threats of violence from the public.
The Supreme Court did not provide comment on its decision to deny Chauvin’s appeal.
Floyd, who was black, was killed by police on May 25, 2020, igniting global protests demanding that his killers be brought to justice and an end to police brutality and racism around the world.
Chauvin, a white officer, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine and a half minutes outside the store where Floyd was suspected of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill.
A bystander video showed Floyd’s final moments calling for his mother and saying: “I can’t breathe,” which became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Three other former officers involved in Floyd’s killing — J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane — received lesser sentences at the state and federal levels.
Chauvin is separately appealing his conviction on federal civil rights charges.
