Judge approves new lawyer for Bryan Kohberger in Idaho murder trial
A judge has given the green light to Bryan Kohberger’s plea for a new attorney as he embarks on a mission to secure a retrial. This decision comes even after Kohberger admitted to murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022. Legal expert Mehek Cooke delves into the significant challenge of overturning a guilty plea, while the families of the victims continue to grapple with the emotional anguish of revisiting their tragic loss.
In a separate legal saga, Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer found guilty of George Floyd’s death, has made another attempt to have his state murder conviction nullified.
On Tuesday, attorneys representing Chauvin filed a motion to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. They requested a pause on his ongoing appeal as part of this legal maneuver.
Chauvin’s legal team essentially seeks to halt the current appeal process, aiming to redirect his case back to the local trial court. There, they plan to introduce a fresh argument, claiming that the initial charges brought against him were improper.
One of Derek Chauvin’s attorneys is set to challenge his conviction over the murder of George Floyd in 2020, continuing the fight in court. (Court TV via AP)
In April 2021, Chauvin was convicted of the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Records show the former officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds while Floyd was face down and handcuffed on the ground; Floyd suffered a fatal lack of oxygen to the brain.
George Floyd is kneeled upon by former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officer Derek Chauvin next to former MPD officer J. Alexander Kueng, as seen in a still from the body camera video of former MPD officer Thomas Lane, during the police custody in which he died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. May 25, 2020. Video taken May 25, 2020. (MPD/Hennepin County District Court/Handout via REUTERS)
Back in June, Chauvin’s team filed an appeal against a judge’s decision denying his petition for post-conviction relief.
The judge denied Chauvin’s entire post-conviction petition on May 1, more than five months after it was initially filed in November 2025. This is Chauvin’s third petition for conviction relief.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is handcuffed to be led away after a jury found him guilty of all charges in his trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021, in a still image from video. (Pool via REUTERS)
“Mr. Chauvin became aware of additional violations of Mr. Chauvin’s due process rights in the unlawful assignment of authority by Governor Tim Walz to Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute State v. Chauvin,” the motion said.
The Tuesday motion asks the court to pause Chauvin’s pending appeal so the trial court can evaluate new procedural claims—including improper prosecutor assignment, failure to convene a grand jury, lack of court jurisdiction, and judicial bias—which his defense argues amount to non-waivable “structural errors.”
In this photo provided by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin poses for a booking photo after his conviction on April 21, 2021, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges in the murder of George Floyd. (Photo by Minnesota Department of Corrections via Getty Images)
News Media has reached out to the Minnesota Attorney General for comment.