Commentary: Legal Experts Weigh In on Potentially Biased Chauvin Juror

Legal experts believe that a retrial for Derek Chauvin, the officer recently convicted of murdering George Floyd in the video seen ’round the world, may happen due to the alleged partiality of one of the jurors. Brandon…

IJR SyndicatedMay 5, 20213 min read

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“Officer Chauvin was wrongfully convicted under the US Constitution’s 6th Amendment right to a trial by an IMPARTIAL JURY,” tweeted David Clarke Jr.

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“Chauvin never stood a chance,” tweeted conservative journalist Elijah Schaffer.

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Initial reactions aside, however, there may now be some real legal weight to the push for an appeal and retrial.

Joseph Daly, a professor emeritus at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, told the Star Tribune that the potential for such an appeal would depend on whether it could be established that Mitchell actively lied in his responses during jury selection.

In its article on the matter, The Washington Post interviewed Jury consultant Alan Tuerkheimer, who said that, while the photo was insufficient to overturn the verdict, it could lead to the judge calling Mitchell in for questioning to determine if he had lied about his political involvement or held a predetermined verdict in mind.

“That could change the outcome of things; if there is anything that makes him seem that he was not forthcoming, it could be an avenue for the judge to reconsider the case,” Tuerkheimer said, according to The Washington Post.

There is little that can be added to the unfathomable amount of words written about the brutality witnessed to in the recording of Floyd’s final moments beneath Chauvin’s knee.

Regardless of such violence, however, every American citizen is entitled to a fair trial in an impartial justice system and, as such, both Chauvin and the nation are owed the assurance that his verdict was arrived at based on the facts of the case and the facts of the case alone.

Following a year of violent riots, attempted interference by members of Congress and now, an open question regarding the motives of one of the jurors, that assurance has been cast into doubt.

As such, hard questions must be asked to establish whether or not the trial of Chauvin was carried out in good faith.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.