Local defense attorney gives insight on Chauvin verdicts and possible appeal
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – A local defense attorney shares his insight on the verdicts in the Derek Chauvin trial.
“I think the jury had a very difficult job this is only the second time in the history of Minnesota that a police officer has been convicted for taking somebody’s life while on duty, so it was an enormously difficult task for the jury but I think most commentators will agree they reached the right conclusion,” Defense Attorney Mark Friese with Vogel Law Firm said.
“It only took about 10 hours for the jury to deliberate. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time given the volume of evidence that they had to go through. What do you make of that?” KVRR’s Jim Monk asked.
“I think 10 hours is an enormous amount of time. You take a dozen people, put them in the room together, give them time to review the instructions and then they’ll look at each of the elements of the offense and talk about whether the evidence supports those elements or not. So, 10 hours is a lot of work. A lot can get done in that time,” Friese explained.
“An appeal is obviously inevitable. What kind of issues come to your mind as far as what might be raised on appeal?” Monk asked.
“There are several and there are going to be some very good appeal arguments on behalf of the defendant. First, this charge of third degree murder, the second count of which he was convicted, by the plain language of the statute probably doesn’t apply to the facts of this case. You’ll recall that the trial judge initially dismissed that charge. They appealed it to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. In the Mohamed Noor case, the other police officer in Minnesota who had been convicted, has a similar issue that’s on appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The pretrial publicity, the settlement of the wrongful death suit during jury selection and the publicity during trial including national figures coming to Minneapolis to advocate and promote a verdict they thought was just will all be issues on appeal,” Friese said.
