In November 2023, Derek Chauvin (without legal counsel) filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for dismissal of the federal criminal charges against him for the killing of George Floyd or for a new trial. The asserted basis for this new motion was the opinion of a pathologist, Dr. William Schaetzel, who had never examined the Floyd corpse and never testified in any of the criminal cases, but who said based on review of certain papers that Floyd did not die from asphyxia from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumor called paragangliona that can cause a fatal surge of adrenaline.[1]
U.S. Attorneys’ Response to Chauvin Motion[2]
On January 12, 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota and the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division submitted their opposition to the Chauvin motion with the following major points:
- Chauvin in his guilty plea agreement “waive[d] the right to petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 except based upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.”
- Chauvin “failed to show . . .that counsel’s performance was deficient . . . because ‘counsel is strongly presumed to have rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment’. . . and [because Chauvin failed to show that] such “acts or omissions . . . [fell] “outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance.”
- Chauvin also failed to show that “there is a reasonable probability that but for counsel’s error, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial” and that the opinion of William Schaetzel “likely would have changed the outcome of the trial.” Thus, Chauvin failed to show that he suffered prejudice.
- The ”files and records of this case—including the exhibits cited by Defendant in his motion—conclusively show that Defendant is not entitled to relief, and a hearing is not necessary.”
This Blog’s Preliminary Reasons for Denial of Chauvin’s Motion
Before the filing of the above prosecution brief, this blog argued that various provisions of Chauvin’s guilty plea barred this motion. [3]
============================
[1] Krauss, Derek Chauvin files motion attempting to overturn federal conviction, StarTribune (Nov. 13, 2023)
[2] Government’s Opposition to Defendant’s Motion To Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence Under 28 U.S.C. sec. 2255, U.S. v. Chauvin, Crim No. 21-108 (Jan. 12, 2024);Karnowski (AP), Prosecutors urge rejection of Chauvin bid to dismiss civil rights conviction in George Floyd murder, StarTribune (Jan. 12, 2024) This blogger has not been able to obtain a copy of the prosecution’s brief.
[3] Response to Derek Chauvin’s Federal Motion for New Trial for Killing George Floyd, dwkcommentaries.com (Nov. 26, 2023).