Derek Chauvin files petition to vacate state murder conviction in death of George Floyd

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is once again seeking to overturn his state murder conviction in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Chauvin is looking to have his conviction vacated and the charges dismissed.

In the petition, Chauvin's legal team is requesting a court order declaring that the assignment of authority of the case to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was "illegitimate" and a violation of his due process rights. Additionally, they're asking for a court order declaring that the failure of the Hennepin County District Court to convene a grand jury before any charging decision and the failure of prosecutors to secure an indictment also violated Chauvin's due process rights.

WCCO has reached out to the Minnesota Attorney General's Office for comment.

Chauvin has been in federal prison since 2021 and is simultaneously serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder. Chauvin has been serving out the concurrent sentences in a federal prison in Big Spring, Texas. 

Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is White, used his knee to pin Floyd's neck to the ground for nine and a half minutes. The killing, captured on bystander video, sparked protests in 2020 as part of a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.

In 2022, Chauvin appealed his conviction to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, claiming the jury had been "intimidated by excessive pre-trial publicity." A three-judge panel affirmed the conviction in a 50-page decision. The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to review the case. Chauvin's lawyers also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction, but it too declined.

This is the third time Chauvin's counsel has filed for postconviction relief. The first petition was dismissed in late 2025 and the second one was dismissed in May.