Derek Chauvin is once again challenging the judicial system, pressing for the court to revisit his request for a new trial.
Recent legal filings indicate that Chauvin has appealed the decision of a judge who denied his petition for post-conviction relief.
In April 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. Evidence presented during the trial showed that the former police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. During this time, Floyd was in a prone position, handcuffed, and deprived of the oxygen necessary for brain function, which ultimately led to his death.
In this archived image from June 25, 2021, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin is seen addressing the court at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. (Court TV via AP, Pool, File)
Represented by criminal defense lawyer Gregory Joseph, Chauvin submitted an appeal on June 29. This came after a judge’s decision on May 1 to reject his plea for post-conviction relief.
George Floyd died in Minnesota in May 2020. (Courtesy Benjamin Crump via TMX.news)
“None of the claims raised in this Petition for Post-Conviction Relief warrant relief,” the 41-page order read.
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 April 20, 2021. (Pool via Reuters)
The judge denied Chauvin’s entire post-conviction petition more than five months after it was initially filed in November 2025.
The petition’s arguments include prosecutors improperly relying on video evidence, jury instructions being legally flawed and police officials giving false testimony, among others.
George Floyd died after an encounter with four Minneapolis police officers. (AP)
In the May 1 order, the judge repeatedly applied Minnesota’s Knaffla rule, which generally prevents defendants from using post-conviction proceedings to raise issues that were already decided on direct appeal or could have been raised earlier but were not.
Protesters rally over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis May 29, 2020, in New York. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The judge concluded that essentially every one of Chauvin’s claims fit into one of those two categories.
Joseph was not Chauvin’s defense attorney for his initial trial, KTTC reported. Joseph has represented him since his conviction and continued appeal efforts.