In prosecuting the Chauvin case, Mr. Ellison assembled a team of outside lawyers to handle motions and the presentation of evidence and testimony, and the outcome was a rarity in America: Very few prosecutors have ever convicted a police officer of murder for killing on the job.
"We don't have any reason to think the jurors were not following the judge's instructions to avoid the news," said Hans, the Cornell professor. Meanwhile, legal experts said, for Chauvin's conviction to have meaning, discussions over policing in America must continue and officers must be rightfully held accountable in excessive force cases.
The choice of who does what is no accident. While Derek Chauvin ’s attorney, Eric Nelson, works alone, the prosecution is being handled by two assistant attorneys general, Matthew Frank and Erin Eldridge, and two outside lawyers, Jerry Blackwell and Steve Schleicher. Ten more are working behind the scenes, many for free.
Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general, has long been an important voice on criminal justice issues in Minneapolis. Credit... MINNEAPOLIS — As a young civil rights lawyer almost 20 years ago, Keith Ellison took on a client who accused two Minneapolis police officers of sodomizing him with a toilet plunger.
Mr. Ellison, 57, who grew up in Detroit and moved to Minnesota to attend law school, became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006 and a rising star of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
The Prosecution Erin Eldridge, an assistant attorney general, works in the office's criminal division. Like Mr. Frank, she was involved in the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in April of murdering George Floyd.
During trial, Chauvin's defense attorney was Eric Nelson. Nelson's law firm partner, Marsh Halberg of Halberg Criminal Defense, confirmed back in September that "Mr. Nelson does not represent Mr. Chauvin on the state appeal at this time."
Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district from 2007 to 2019.
Derek Chauvin deemed ineligible for public defender for appeals to Floyd murder conviction. The justices made that decision after reviewing information about Chauvin's debts and assets.
Attorney William MohrmanAttorney William Mohrman filed a document with the court Friday saying he would represent Chauvin in his appeal. Chauvin was convicted in April on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's 2020 death. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.
Detroit, MIKeith Ellison / Place of birth
Minnesota Attorney General since 2019Keith Ellison / Office
Contact UsU.S. MAIL ONLY: Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. 445 Minnesota Street. Suite 1400. St. Paul, MN 55101-2131.PHONE: Twin Cities Calling Area: (651) 296-3353.Outside the Twin Cities: (800) 657-3787.
Booking photo of Derek Chauvin on April 21, 2021. Minnesota Department of Corrections / via AP. Legal experts said it helped that the 12-member jury was diverse: four white women and two white men, three Black men and one Black woman, and two mixed-race women.
In fact, prosecutors made a point not to cast aspersions on all law enforcement during closing arguments. "This is not a prosecution of the police," prosecutor Steven Schleicher said. Policing is "a most noble profession," he said, and Chauvin's actions were "not policing.".