Derek Chauvin asks federal court to toss guilty plea due to new information from pathologist – Law Officer

MINNEAPOLIS – Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was back in court Wednesday in an attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 death of George Floyd.

In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Chauvin is claiming that new evidence helps demonstrate that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death. Moreover, he said he never would have pleaded guilty in 2021 had he been aware of the theories of a Kansas pathologist, Fox News reported. 

Chauvin had contact in February with Dr. William Schaetzel, of Topeka, Kansas. The pathologist told him that he believes Floyd died from complications of a rare tumor called a paraganglioma that can cause a fatal surge of adrenaline, according to court records.

In his motion, Chauvin claims that no jury would have convicted him if it had heard the pathologist’s evidence, despite the medical professional simply reviewing the autopsy reports and not actually a participant in the post-mortem examination.

As a result, Chauvin is asking the judge who presided over his trial to toss his civil rights conviction and order a new trial, or at least a hearing for him to present the new evidence.

The request appears to be a long shot as a federal appeals court has twice rejected the former officer’s request for a rehearing on other matters that appeared substantive.

Chauvin filed the request without the assistance of an attorney, according to Fox.

The former Minneapolis cop is serving a 21-year sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, as he still awaits a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court as to whether it will hear the appeal of his state court murder conviction.

Meanwhile, a shocking documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis” came out Thursday. Law Officer has partnered with Alpha News and the film and can be viewed free of charge here.