Derek Chauvin is set to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd, his latest legal effort after state courts left the verdict in place. The filing would put one of the most closely watched criminal cases in recent U.S. history before the justices, even as Chauvin continues to serve his sentence.
The petition follows the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision not to take up Chauvin’s appeal, narrowing his options to the nation’s highest court. Chauvin was convicted in 2021 of murder and manslaughter after the killing of Floyd in Minneapolis set off nationwide protests and a renewed debate over policing, race and accountability.
The case still carries legal and public weight because Chauvin has not exhausted every avenue available to him, and because a Supreme Court review would reopen questions that lower courts have already rejected. But the odds remain steep: the justices accept only a small share of criminal appeals, and there is no guarantee they will intervene in a case that has already been litigated extensively in state court.
For Floyd’s family and for prosecutors who defended the verdict, Chauvin’s next move does not change the conviction that was already entered. It does, however, extend a legal fight that has remained alive long after the trial ended, with the final word still resting with the Supreme Court on whether it will take the case at all.
