Free Republic

The attorney for Derek Chauvin, Eric Nelson, has filed motions for a new trial and for a hearing to impeach the verdict based on jury misconduct (a so-called Schwartz Hearing under Minnesota law). Nearly a dozen bases are cited for a new trial, but not the recent revelations about juror Brandon Mitchell wearing a BLM t-shirt at a rally and opining that people should get on juries “to spark some change.”The Associated Press lists the reasons the motions cites for a new trial:Nelson cited many reasons in his request for a new trial. He said Judge Peter Cahill abused the...

<p>Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted last month of killing George Floyd, filed a request Tuesday asking for a new trial.</p><p>Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, alleged that juror misconduct and pretrial publicity in part led to Chauvin’s conviction for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death last year.</p>

A juror on the Derek Chauvin trial who told the court that he had no prior knowledge of the George Floyd civil case was photographed last August wearing a shirt that read “Get your knee off our necks” and “BLM.” He stated last week that he saw jury duty as a means to “spark some change.” ================================================================= Juror #52, now identified as Brandon Mitchell, reportedly told Judge Cahill on March 15 that he had no prior knowledge of the case prior to being summoned for jury duty. Mitchell is the first juror in the Chauvin trial to speak openly about...